


Solo Magic

by GonerLoner



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternative Universe - Magic, Angst, Getting Together, Hurt/Comfort, Inspired by Fanart, Keith and Shiro are Siblings, Keith's mum, Kissing, Langst, M/M, More tags to be added, Shapeshifter Hunk, Shapeshifting, Witch Allura, Witch Keith, Witch Lance, Witch Pidge, and with people i mean Lance, better be safe than sorry (why i added the violence tag), mentions of people getting severely burned, witch!AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-11-30
Updated: 2019-01-09
Packaged: 2019-02-08 18:57:47
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 20
Words: 78,289
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12870942
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GonerLoner/pseuds/GonerLoner
Summary: Lance, a young Water witch, leaves his shack in a try of finding answers to the questions burning in his mind. It mind end with him finding a new friend, a teacher and even...the one he was so desperately wishing and waiting for.





	1. Lance

**Author's Note:**

> This is a work inspired by the GORGEOUS art of [kiilea](http://kiilea.tumblr.com/) . Tbh, I'm a little nervous to post this since I'm quite unsure about it now but well...Here goes nothing!  
> I got her permission to use the idea of this Witch!AU and well...I made this out of it.
> 
> To those that probably came here because the art is so amazing and yay, a fanfic inspired by art... I feel like this is in no way as good as her art! Go check out her tumblr (she's also on Instagram as @kinkypoptarte) and leave some love!
> 
> Enjoy and probably leave some Kudos!
> 
> Oh, one thing I forgot: in this AU, every town in the country they live in has only one witch - no matter how big the town is. The powers of said witch reveal themselves at some point in their lives - which can be at the age of 13 or at the age of 50. It's quite randomly and nobody knows how it works and who's probably going to be the next witch of the town.
> 
> Mostly, they're quite accepted and tolerated - but there are still towns (more villages) that are afraid of magic and hunt down a witch once she reveals herself or bann them out of the town forever.
> 
> Badly explained, but I hope this will clear up some questions that will surface without doubt. I probably will expand this whole idea and make the whole fic a bit longer - depends on how I'm feeling.
> 
> If there are still questions at the end, feel free to leave comments and ask!

The day in the forest was cold and humid. Wet leaves made a squelching sound beneath boot-clad feet as a tall, dark dressed figure made their way through the fog-covered trees.

A grayish-blue, small cat was walking a few feet in front of him, stopping every other minute to sniff at some small bushes or grass-like plants. Eventually, it stopped next to some taller, brown-green patterned and raised its head to look at the figure with bright, icy-blue eyes and let out a low, demanding sound.

The figure, a young man with eyes so startingly blue like the sky and a black, pointy hat on his messy, light-brown hair chuckled a little. He crouched down next to the small cat, taking one of the waxy leaves between his fingers and eyeing it critically, rubbing it a bit. After a few moments, he nodded to himself, deciding that these were the leaves he was searching for.

"Thanks, Blue." His voice was soft and smooth, like soft waves of the ocean on a sunny day.

He scratched the cat between her ears, then went to pluck away some of the leaves to put them into a small bag at his leather belt. As he stood up, dusting off his clothes and his star-spreckled, dark blue cloak, he looked around for a bit. Blue meowed up at him, her tail flickering.

The young man looked down at her again. "You up for showing me some more? Or do you wanna go home?"

She sneezed once. Then she stood up from where she had been waiting next to him, her tail high in the air and walked right past the young man.

He raised an eyebrow. "Taking that as a yes to the first one", he mumbled to himself and started to follow his cat. She somehow always seemed to know how to find the right herbs and plants he needed to complete his potions.

The name of the young man was Lance, Lance McClain. Technically, he didn't have a last name any more...Not since the day he revealed his powers and was banned out of his town.

Because Lance was a witch.

He lived alone in a shack outside of town, despite his young age of roughly eighteen years...for almost a year now. He was told to move there as soon as his powers showed themselves - which had been briefly before his seventeenth birthday.

At first, it had been horrible.

Lance forced himself to not think about the breakdown he had as soon as reality had come crashing down on him and he realised he truly was alone now...There was no one there for him any more.

He was alone with his thoughts, was forced to look inside himself, somehow overcoming all these fears and ignoring all the screaming voices inside his head to actually try to find out what he was capable of.

So far, he had found out that he had a crazily strong connection to the element Water, and that he was kind of able to control it. Or well, use it.

Somehow he felt that there was a much bigger power resource inside of him that told him he would be able to do much greater things than just moving water around with only his thoughts or being able to let it drop out of his fingers if he just concentrated enough and would actually be able to learn some new things - but...he wasn't really able to do that. Yet.

And since there were no other witches in the town where he was born and since he still hadn't succeeded in reaching out to more of his kind...well. There was absolutely no one there to teach him a thing.

Lance sighed, ducking under some branches as he continued his train of thoughts while following Blue.

He was quite good in the subject of brewing every kind of potion, though. Some he even was able to sell to the people who came to him in search of help.

One thing he had discovered a few months earlier: He even was able to heal people. Well, at least healing with the icy water he was able to draw out of himself had worked on his own body until now...so he assumed that it had to also function with other people. But no one who came to him and was injured or required his help in another way hat let him touch them until now - they only came to buy his potions.

They were powerful, yes, but...

His healing abilities could make everything so much easier. For the town...If only the people wouldn't be so afraid of magic.

He wanted to help them. Even though it had hurt quite a bit that the ones who once were his friends and stayed with him through the first grueling years of school, who loved him and cared for him - when all of them suddenly turned their backs on him and refused to speak to him any more when his veins had first started glowing blue and water appeared out of nowhere around him.

A face suddenly appeared in his mind and Lance had to swallow at the thought of Hunk, his once best friend. He cursed quietly as the sudden memory made him stumble over a tree root.

Hunks betrayal had hurt him the worst.

The one moment where Lance had an anxiety attack in class and suddenly his veins all over his arms started glowing blue, the air around him nearly seemed to freeze and cold water dripped out of his hair...Everyone had first looked at him in shock and then, once they realised it was magic, turned away.

Hunks gaze had stayed on him for a few seconds longer and Lance thought he saw regret and guilt in it - but he eventually turned away just like the others, ignoring the boy's desperate pleas for help.

The teacher's voice had shook only slightly as she had called for him to leave the class and go to the principals office.

One day later, he was forced to leave the town.

 

Lance was the first witch this town had brought out in centuries.

Some of his ancestors had been magically gifted, they lived in the exact same shack he was now living in - but they all were woman. From everything Lance had known - and what he was told in school - it was quite unlikely for a male to receive magic forces - not to speak of the extremely rare power of a connection to one of the Elements.

Nobody could tell him what to do.

Nobody was there to calm him down during his breakdown the first day after he had left; the tears he cried formed a lake around him, soaking the ground and his clothes, leaving him shivering in a bone-depth cold.

Well, there was no human around him, but...the animals of the forest were there. They heard his crying, then slowly, one after another, approached him and the first thing he felt next to this chilling coldness inside of him was a damp snout that softly touched the hands he had covered his eyes with and soft fur that stroked across his arms.

With a weak sound of surprise, he had flinched backwards, now staring at two deers, a wolf and a fox standing in front of him, a few larger animals hidden behind larger trees farther away from Lance.

They must have sensed his magical abilities and decided to help him to not feel so alone any more.

And the next day was it when that same fox that had helped him to calm down - by curling into a ball on his lap and cuddling against him - brought a small, blueish-gray kitten in front of his door, its deep brown eyes looking up at Lance in a plea to save the little creature.

Somehow, the young witch had been able to heal the quite severely wounded kitten - she must have been attacked by a dog or something. But from that day on, it kept him company. He named the - female, as he soon found out - cat Blue and she practically attached herself at his hip.

By that point, it felt as if a small part of Lance himself had manifested itself inside that beautiful cat.

 

Said cat now meowed loudly again, trying to get his attention as she stopped in front of yet another pair of small plants and looked up at him with a quite grumpy look as he finally caught up with her.

"Sorry, memories again", he mumbled as an apology as he crouched down next to her and checked the plant leaves before nodding and picking a few of them.

He looked up into the sky, nearly hidden by the green-black, impossibly tall pine trees. A sigh escaped him. One more plant he needed, then he and Blue could head back again.

He was starting to get cold.

Or let's say, the humid air and dark shadows under the tree were starting to make him uncomfortable.

"Think you can find the last one for me too, girl?", he asked his cat while scratching her softly. She sneezed once again and stood up with a quiet meow. Then she walked away again, deeper into the dark shadows.

Lance sighed but followed her.

 

Just as the sun had begun to set and dark slowly spread through the trees, Lance arrived at his shack, hurriedly hasting inside and closing the door once Blue was inside too.

He sighed as he walked to his table with all the herbs, oils and other several ingredients for his magical potions. A fire burned under a small, but solid iron kettle and a dark blue fluid was already bubbling inside. Lance glanced inside the kettle to make sure everything looked like it should and started to prepare everything to finish the drink that should heal every issue one had with his stomach.

Once all the ingredients were inside, he stepped next to the kettle, holding out his hand. He took a deep breath and started to concentrate, pulling at the lake óf ice inside himself and directing the icy magical essence up his arm and in his hand - where it eventually started forming a small puddle of brightly glowing fluid.

He opened his eyes again - which were now glowing in the same blue as the fluid in his hand - and started reciting the old spell he knew to use for this potion. Slowly, he let the few drops of magical water fall into the kettle where they dissappeared with a soft hissing sound.

Blue swirls appeared inside the fluid and Lance watched it for a while, smiling to himself.

After the finished liquid had cooled down and he was able to fill it into many small glass bottles, he slowly made his way to the small room he called his 'bookroom'. Every book he had owned until he was forced to leave the town - which had already been quite a few -, every book he had purchased since then during his visits. They filled up a shelf up to the ceiling and in front of it, Lance had build himself a cozy small area to relax and calm down. Dozens of blue pillows piled on a plushy armchair, a blue fuzzy blanket spread over them and some shelves with blossoming succulents on them on the wall across the room.

Lance looked around, smiling as he saw that Blue had already claimed her place on her favourite pillow that had fallen on the floor. She purred loudly as she stretched and rolled around on it, trying to get comfortable.

The young witch chuckled as he watched her for a few seconds with a fond smile. Then he walked over to the bookshelf, pulling out the book he was currently reading - an ancient guide of healing with bewitched water. Or more precisely: his magical essence.

He sat on the armchair, sinking into the soft blanket and put the open book on his crossed legs. Next, he reached for a small bowl he had standing on a shelf a bit afar and pulled out his sharp pocket knife out of his belt bag. He swallowed a bit as he watched the sharp blade.

His eyes grazed the ancient writing on the current page. Theoretically, he should be able to heal even the deepest wounds on his own body with his magic - it wasn't possible with real water, though. So much he had already discovered.

But...to exercise and train his abilities, he had to injure himself to have something to heal. He sighed and started to unwrap the bright bandages on his left arm, letting them fall to the ground and revealing dark pink lines that littered his underarm up to his elbow - wounds he made by himself to train his healing. Until now, he had been able to heal every single cut in the mere time of at least a few minutes - no matter how deep it had been. Still, the deeper once had left scars...and there were quite a few deep ones.

He had to find out how to prevent scarring on deeper wounds.

Lance took a deep breath and pulled the blade over his wrist in a sharp, fast motion. Immediately, pain started to burn its way through his arm and he gasped softly as blood began to drip inside the bowl he had placed on his lap.

"Okay, you can do this", he mumbled to himself and closed his eyes. Trying to block out the burning pain, he concentrated to do just the same thing he did before when he finished the potion - he started to pull up some of the icy magic, feeling it crawl through his veins, up his left arm and soothing the pain.

As the glowing liquid started to seep out of his pores once it had reached his wrist, cold and smelling like the ocean Lance had never seen, he raised his injured hand and willed the fluid to surround his wrist like a band.

He hissed softly, breathing deeply as he let the water seep into the wound, the magic in it searching for the destroyed muscle cells and blood vessels, and starting to pull it all back together, His teeth gritted on each other as the pain increased and he wanted to scream at how it was almost more painful to stitch his wrist back together than slicing it open.

He was so glad Blue had survived; her injuries must have hurt much more when Lance had sewed them back up with his magic.

Finally, as the the magical essence had done its job, Lance let his hand fall next to him and gasped for air. Then he opened his eyes to take a look at his work.

The deep cut through most of the blood vessels on his wrist had been reduced to a fine, dark pink scar. He moved his hand a bit. No pain.

A breath of relief escaped him; he did everything right as it seemed.

Just as he was about to stand up and get something to drink - using his own magical water always left him almost desperately thirsty -, Blue brushed past him arm and climbed into his lap, pushing away the bowl with the blood drops inside.

Lance chuckled, putting it away completely and cradling the small cat in his arms. She purred and snuggled into his grip, her eyes looking up at him with a flash of worry behind the sparkles of contentment; she moved a little to bump her nose into his scarred wrist and meowed a little.

"I'm okay, girl", he smiled as he stood up with her and walked to his small kitchen, taking a cup and filling it out of his water bin, chugging it down in two gulps. He filled it two times more until he was finally satisfied.

Blue meowed again, snuggling deeper into him and nosing at his wrist. She sensed his previous injury and the magic he had used on it.

Her icy blue eyes linked with Lance's once again. "I'm really okay, Blue", he started once again. "See, I...have to train these abilities somehow. Yes, I know how the energy in every body flows and what I have to do to treat flesh wounds but...all that...knowing is no use if I can't somehow train it. And I don't want to hurt anyone else beside myself - only that they could be my guinea pig or something."

For a few seconds, Blue just continued staring at him but then she snuggled her head into the crook of his arm and didn't make any more sounds.

Lance sighed as he put down his cup and scratched her softly behind her ears. It was getting late. Maybe he should try to sleep - tomorrow, he would start going deeper into the forest. Deeper than he had ever been before.

Something told him that...tomorrow he would get answers. To at least most of the questions he still had after a year of living alone.


	2. The forest and its Queen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance meets Pidge.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Omg, I'm already getting so many positive reviews for this! I'm quite amazed, didn't think this would get such a great response.
> 
> Once again, all credit goes to Kiilea! If you want to know how Pidge's and Lance's outfits look (i haven't really used the same outfit - but it's close), just go [here](http://kiilea.tumblr.com/tagged/witch%21au/page/4/).
> 
> And now: enjoy!!

It was raining as Lance left the small shack the next day. He shivered under his cloak, pulling it closer around himself and slowly looking up into the sky as he started walking, his bag with a few fruits and a bottle of water swinging at his side.

Blue walked a few feet in front of him; in contrast to other cats, she didn't really seem to care about the rain.

In fact, she even enjoyed it - judging by the fact how she tried to catch raindrops with her tongue and jumped through various puddles that crossed their way.

Maybe that came with being the animal of a witch that was connected to the Water. With being his soul-animal.

The young man sighed a bit and pulled the star-spreckled cloth tighter around himself. Getting annoyed at being soaked just minutes after he had left his home, Lance concentrated and created a barrier between himself and the rain, stopping the water from hitting him.

And even though this was his Element, his greatest force - or at least it should be -, he still felt weirdly miserable, out alone in the rainy forest. He had managed to keep the rain from soaking him further - but the coldness stayed.

He shivered.

The icy source of magic inside of him, sitting deep in his belly, did not help at all. Normally he enjoyed the coldness - but right now, as it radiated through his every bone, Lance couldn't help but desperately wish for just a moment of warmth.

 

It may have been a few hours that he was walking through the forest now, having stopped occasionally to eat something or to pick up some herbs and plants Blue was showing him.

He just had made himself a place to rest a bit, munching on a salty-sweet apple - as the shadows under the trees around him suddenly began to move.

His gaze shot up, drifting around out of glowing blue eyes.

Maybe it only was an animal...

He stood up, narrowing his eyes and staring into the shadows as they moved again.

His mind was playing tricks on him...there was nobody. Just him and Blue.

But as he turned around to sit down again and forget about the whole thing, he suddenly came face to face with a figure standing in front of him.

A figure with brightly glowing, grass-green eyes.

Blue growled.

Lance only let out a startled, undignified yelp as he jumped backwards and nearly out of his skin and raised his hand quickly, his veins staring to glow blue and the raindrops rushed towards his hand to froze into ice.

In his shock, Lance didn't even realise that he was about to attack the figure with an ice-dagger - but before that could happen, he saw the glowing green eyes widen a bit and two vines shot out from the tree they were standing under to catch his wrist and a feminine sounding voice gasped. "Wait!"

The Water witch blinked in surprise as his wrist wasn't able to move an inch and with a sound of confusion, he really looked at the figure in front of him, his shock slowly fading and he gulped as he realised that he had been about to stab her...

Yeah, it was a girl.

She sat before him in a crouch, her grass-green eyes shielded behind round glasses, atop the short, hazelnut colored hair sat a pointed, black hat, similar to Lance's own - hers was decorated with some flowers that had been soaked by the rain. Green gloves hugged her hands, a vine ranked up her left arm until it seemingly disappeared inside her hair. She wore light-blue shorts with a dark green shirt and green-white striped tights; a nearly black cloak surrounded her but it did nothing to protect her from the rain still pouring down.

Lance was happy his own protection from the rain didn't require that much of his attention any more.

A gemstone on a necklace around her neck glowed in the same green as her eyes as she continued to stare at him.

A witch. She was a witch.

Lance nearly missed how a sand-colored cat came up behind her and immediately started to hiss at Blue, who looked like she was ready to fight the girl for still restraining Lance.

He quickly looked at her, wishing she would calm down and opened his hand, the ice melted again and splashed on the vines around him and on the ground. The vines retreated at that.

"A Water witch", the girl - she seemed to still be very young - whispered. She seemed baffled.

So was Lance.

He hadn't encountered another witch for the whole last year and now suddenly...another Element witch?

"W-who are you?", he asked, stuttering a bit and rubbing his wrist as the glowing of her eyes subsided and she stood up fully, the tension leaving her body.

"I'm sorry. That was dumb of me to scare you like this." Then she smiled, open and genuinely. "I'm Pidge. Cool to meet you! You're the first male witch I've seen since...ever."

Lance laughed a bit. "Well, you're the first witch I've seen in my life", he answered with a smile, his uneasiness fading away. Pidge seemed to be friendly and she was, well, company. Something he hadn't had in quite a long time.

"Oh, and I'm Lance", he added.

Pidge's head cocked a bit to the side as she picked up the sand-colored cat to stop her from hissing at Blue and she frowned a bit at his first words. "How come?"

"I had to leave home a year ago and I'm the first witch of my town in centuries soo..." He shrugged. "No one to learn from. And I wasn't able to reach out to other witches until now. I'd like to know if there are more male witches...I was told that only girls would eventually reveal themselves as witches."

Pidge hesitated. "That's what I thought too. But...you're a witch. And a...a Water witch."Her eyes started to sparkle.

"Uh...I'm not that good at controlling the Water ouside of my body though."

"Well, that ice dagger you wanted to stab me with speaks another language to me." She raised an eyebrow with a small smile.

"Eh, yeah..." Lance stopped, looking at Blue and swallowing a bit. He picked her up too and she instantly snuggled into his arms, calming him down a bit.

"You seem to also be connected to an Element?", he asked hurriedly.

Pidge's eyes sparkled even more as a grin spread over her face. "Yep! I'm a Forest witch." She raised her left arm and the vine around it uncurled like a snake, stretching out to lightly touch Lance's hand. He stared at the vine in surprise, forcing himself not to flinch and gripping Blue tighter as she reached out to hit it, hissing in mistrust.

As he looked up at Pidge again, his eyes were wide. "So you can like...control the earth? And the trees and everything here?"

She nodded hesitantly. "Not everything but the biggest part of the plant kingdom." Her left arm stretched out towards the tree next to them and suddenly there was rustling in the crown and with a plopp, a fruit fell down and right into Pidge's outstretched hand.

She smirked.

"Wow...how long have you already been a witch?", Lance asked her curiously.

"For uhm...five years now, I think." The fruit squelched with juice as Pidge took a great bite of it. "My powers revealed when I was ten but my Mom refused to let me go until I'd was at least thirteen. She trained me...all she could teach me. Cause the witch of our town before me had been my grandma and she died shortly after I revealed myself."

Lance nodded a bit and had to swallow. "Then you'd have to be quite powerful by now."

"I'm quite good at interacting with the forest and some of the animals, that's right. But..." She hesitated, her eyes dulling with a hint of sadness. "If I'm being honest...I miss company. I miss my parents...and my brother. Even though they accepted me becoming a witch, I'm not allowed to talk to them any more. Not even to see them." She swallowed and suddenly looked a lot more like her young age of fifteen years than she had only a few moments ago.

"I...I know the feeling...It's been more than a year since I've last seen my family or talked to anybody for longer than a few sentences." He smiled at her comfortingly.

Pidge sniffed but looked at him again with a small smile playing around her lips. "Then you must be quite glad you found me."

Oh, how right she was.

 

Lance and Pidge ended up talking for far longer than both of them had intended. So Pidge invited the young man to her shack as the sun started to set, introducing him to her cat Green as they walked.

At some point, Lance tried to extend his concentration to protect Pidge from the rain too; he even managed to draw out the water of her soaked-through clothes and she thanked him with a sparkly, face-splitting grin as soon as she was as dry as Lance himself.

Back at her shack, both of them instantly sat in front of the fireplace where a nice fire was burning in. They had told each other nearly everything of their backstories, being so happy about finding another witch that they trusted each other instantly.

Lance actually moaned as the warmth of the fire seeped through his skin into his body. He was able to keep himself and Pidge dry but he wasn't able to keep away the coldness. The fire was a blessing.

Pidge watched him a bit amused. "Didn't think you'd be that happy to get out of the rain. Water is your Element, isn't it?" Lance huffed at her teasing. "It is but sometimes I really hate it that I'm so cold all the time because of it. Most of the time it's okay but right now...it's like..." He pressed a hand to his belly, staring into the flames. "Here's where my power is sitting. Like a big, deep lake of frozen magic. Calm and unmoving. When I reach for it, I can practically feel ice running through my veins that manifests when I let it drip out of my fingers. And it's like ...I'm frozen inside. I'm nearly constantly reaching for warmth but..." He grumbled as the warmth of the fire was once again replaced by the icy coldness of his magic. "I'm used to it. Kind of. But I just wish that there could be something...someone...that can make me feel warm for a little bit longer."

For a few moments, there was silence between the teenagers.

Pidge was watching him, he felt her searching look, like she tried to decipher a code he wasn't able to read.

"What do you think", she suddenly said. "It's already late. Why don't you stay here for the night? I invite you." She smiled at Lance's surprised look. "Don't look at me like this. Do you think I would feel comfortable if you walk back to your shack again - now that it's already dark? And with how far away you live? No, no. Besides, the last time I talked to another witch had been two years ago and I want to keep you here for a bit longer. We can visit the town I once lived in tomorrow."

Lance blinked. "You can do that?" She nodded. "I had to leave, yes, but I'm still allowed to visit the town and buy some stuff. But nothing more. Sooo?" She looked at him with big, pleading eyes.

The Water witch hesitated. He understood what she meant - for him, it had been over a year since his last bigger social interaction and Pidge was the first other witch he had ever encountered.

Maybe he could learn something from her. If she also was someone who used spells and was able to brew potions...Maybe she knew some spells he didn't know yet. Or curses.

But his town...

Well, they could deal without him for a day or two. Or a bit longer. As if anybody there would really miss him if he stayed away for a while.

He looked down at Blue who had curled herself into his lap. "What do you think, girl? Should we stay for a bit?"

The cat raised its head, linked her eyes with Lance's and meowed a bit. She sounded sleepy and Lance knew she wasn't able to walk back like that. At least she had stopped hissing at Green; maybe the two cats could even get along with each other.

So he looked up at Pidge again and smiled. "Okay, we'll stay."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not so happy with this chapter. But I hope you enjoyed it anyway and the plot will come, don't worry! It all happens a bit slow...but we're getting there!


	3. Someone to help me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance spends time with Pidge and they get in contact with a witch so powerful like none had been before - Allura.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Huh. I never thought this would expand so much; guys, this fanfic is getting BIG. Or long. I spent so much time with thinking about their powers so that everything makes sense and seems logical...
> 
> I hope I succeeded with that! If not and you have questions, never hesitate to leave a comment and ask me!
> 
> Now enjoy!

The next day, both were walking towards Pidge’s city, side by side and talking animatedly. Blue and Green jumped around through the bushes a few feet ahead of them and Pidge carried a small basket, the hood of her cloak drawn up, just like Lance’s.

It was a quite nice day, the sun was shining and created beautiful, moving patterns on the forest ground, the sky was blue and the air warm. Lance felt so wonderful like he hadn’t in a long time; Pidge was great company and with her, he could laugh again from the depth of his heart. He had missed that feeling.

Roughly half an hour later, they reached the city, entering paved streets lined with beautiful small houses and occasional trees standing at the side, walking past some elderly people who turned to look at them and greeted Pidge with smiles on their faces.

They watched Lance and smiled at him too, but didn’t say anything.

Occasionally, they had to stop so the Forest witch could talk with a few people or use her magic to help some others with their plants, over the fence of their gardens.

Lance always waited for her.

He was actually a bit surprised at how friendly all those people were towards Pidge; it was nearly the opposite to how he had been treated the one time he had dared to walk back into the city, after he had been banned.

It stung to think about this…so he tried with all his might to will that thought out of his head.

For the most part, it worked. Somehow.

As they reached the town’s market – their target –, Pidge immediately started pulling Lance to some stands with food she claimed he had to try immediately because apparently it was so good. Lance chuckled at her eagerness, but went with her willingly.

Somehow, he already saw the girl as a friend. She was a lot like his younger sister, Madison, had been. And even though Madison didn’t speak to him any more – like the rest of his family –, she still owned a big place in his heart.

Pidge just happened to come along and fill up the empty space that had been created when he had been banned.

 

Having her basket full of groceries and two new blankets and Lance munching on a crispy fried vegetable snack, the two went back to Pidge’s shack. Blue had snuggled herself into Lance’s arms, having declared that she was dead tired and couldn’t walk any more. The Water witch had shaken her head at her but carried her nonetheless when she hadn’t stopped complaining.

“Spoiled little tiger”, he whispered at her when they entered the forest.

She just briefly looked up at him with a tired “Mreoww”, then snuggled back into his chest.

Pidge looked at him with an amused face. Her cat Green walked besides her, sometimes leaving the path to catch something out of the bushes, only to let it go again after a few seconds.

“I think you spoil her a little too much with cuddles”, she grinned.

Lance huffed. “Possible, but she’s my soul animal. I’m allowed to do that.” He looked almost comically indignant, causing Pidge to laugh out loud over his expression.

“Besides, she likes cuddles”, he added with a fond glance at his cat.

Pidge smiled, looking down on her own cat. “As long as it isn’t food.”

 

Once they were back at her shack, Lance watched her organizing all the groceries she bought, spreading out one of the blankets over her bed like she told him when he asked how to help.

The cats went of to play in another room.

“Pidge?” Biting his lip, he sat on the bed ashe was finished.

“Hm?” She briefly looked at him over her shoulder.

He fiddled a bit with his fingers. “Do you…are you a witch who uses spells and curses, beside your Element magic?”

She turned around to fully look at him. “Yeah, I do. Why do you ask?” Her head tilted in curiousity.

“Well…okay look, you’re way more advanced with this whole witch…thing than I am. Is there a way…” He stopped himself. “I want to learn new spells from you. I’m quite good at making potions and stuff, well, knowing all the ingredients and how to mix them and then to add some of my own magic, but with all spells that aren’t used for potions…I really suck at that.”

His cheeks felt warm at his rambling, but he forced himself to keep his gaze on Pidge steady as she slowly put away what she had been holding and walked over to him, her eyes thoughtfully narrowed.

“At remembering spells, using the correct words or creating them?”

He blinked, surprised. “You can also create spells?” Pidge smiled. “Every witch can. Well, at least every witch that is experienced with this whole thing. So?”

“Huh? Eh yes…” Lance looked away, mumbling “Actually, most of them I can’t even pronounce correctly. Or I…I somehow manage to do it but then I forget one or even some of the words and the original cause I wanted to use that one spell for turns into something completely different.”

He expected her to laugh at him.

Which decent witch wasn’t able to pronounce the old Witch Language – in which most of the spells from the books were written – correctly?

Only someone who was messed up.

Like Lance.

But Pidge only hummed. “I think I can help you, let’s see what we can do. Now, let’s eat something and then we can look if I’m able to teach you something new.” She smiled.

“I don’t doubt that.” Lance couldn’t help but grin back. At least she didn’t think he was stupid.

 

Approximately four hours later, Lance’s head felt like it might explode at any second. He flopped on his back onto the the bed next to Pidge and groaned to which she only laughed. “Had enough?”, she teased.

“Definetly.” Throwing his arm over his eyes, he sighed. The girl giggled.

She had been able to teach him about twelve new spells: ways to make his potions hold his Water magic longer and therefore only losing their effect after a long time, lighting a fire with a snap of his fingers – yes, he didn’t need Fire magic to do that –, letting objects disappear, opening locks and a few more.

Lance doubted he would remember all of them by the time he came back to his shack. But he would sure as hell try.

For a few seconds, silence hung between them.

Then, Pidge spoke up again, her tone serious and a bit hesitant. “Lance?”

“Hm?”

“I…I know we only met yesterday and all, but I can already say that I’m so damn happy that I met you.” She smiled a little and Lance removed the arm over his eyes to smile at her. “Awww, same for me.”

“Aand I might know someone who is able to teach you on how to control Water and to help you cope with that coldness inside of you, like you called it.”

The Water witch sat up abruptly, staring at her with wide eyes. “Really?? Who? How??” His heartrate sped up.

“Allura Altea. She’s not only a Water witch but was gifted with the ability of controlling all five Elements.” Pidge grinned, her eyes sparkling excitedly. “She’s been a witch for over fourty years now so she’s as experienced as she can be with mastering every trick and variety of controlling the Elements. Also, she’s an incredibly nice person – a bit blunt sometimes but that’s expectable for a witch of her age.” She stopped, grinning at Lance’s obvious excitement, how the boy was almost vibrating next to her. “She still looks like she’s twenty-something.”

“Wow…” Lance was speechless. “And uh, how did you know…How did you know about her? Or from her…how did you know a witch like that even exists??”

Pidge winked with a broad smile. “She’s a well-known friend of my family. I haven’t met her in person yet, but I once talked to her. She had reached out to me when I had to leave my town two years ago soo…I know she’s there. And my mom gave me something to reach out to her if I should ever need her help with something.”

She stood up and walked over to a small, plant-covered shelf at the other side of the room and took a sparkling, bright sphere from it. Slowly walking back to Lance, she sat next to him once again.

“What’s this?”, the boy asked, curiously looking at the ball inside her hands. Green, blue and purple striae and nebula were swirling around inside and created a beautiful pattern.

“My crystal ball. That’s what my mom gave me before I had to go; it’s a bit old-fashioned, but a fool-proof way of communicating with other witches without anyone else listening. Allura reached out for me with this.” She smiled slightly and rested one of her hands on the crystal surface.

“O-okay…” Lance shifted a bit in his position. “So…you can reach any person you want with this sphere?”

“Not really. This one’s especially for Allura, she has one that’s exactly the same. The spheres are loaded with magic from both of us so that only we two can use them to communicate with each other. If I wanted to have one for you too, for example, when you go back to your shack, we’d have to make two new ones – one for me and one for you.”

Lance nodded slowly, his mind was reeling. A crystal ball. He remembered his grandmother having something like that at home, he once even asked what it was, but she never told him…only said that it was very, very old and he should stay away from it.

If only he had known earlier…maybe he would not have stayed alone for this long.

Pidge watched him. “You know, if you want to, I can contact her. You can visit her and she’ll teach you everything she knows.”

Lance blinked as he resurfaced from his thoughts. “That’d be quite much if she really is that good as you say.”

Pidge laughed. “She sure as hell is, believe me. So? Do you want me to reach out to her? You can also speak to her if you want to.”

“Really?? That would be amazing.” He looked at her with wide eyes.

“Well then.” She smiled and looked down on the sphere in her hands, taking a deep breath and lifting the hand she had placed on the surface. With a voice that sounded too deep for her young body and with green glowing eyes, she slowly spoke a few words and lifted the ball to her face.

Lance watched as the nebulas inside started swirling around faster, eventually mingling together in a bright green, then transforming into a snowy white – and then suddenly, there were colours. Colours that slowly formed the picture of a woman.

As the picture got sharper, a feminine voice gasped. “Pidge? Is that you?” It sounded surprised and the woman leaned a bit closer so Lance had a good look on her face.

Damn, that woman was beautiful.

She had beautiful dark skin, snow-white hair that fell over her shoulder, braided in a long, thick plait, blue-white clothes, a small gemstone glowing in a tiara on her forehead – and the most fascinating eyes Lance had ever seen. They were bright blue, but with pink pupils…on her cheeks sat some arrow-like markings that surprised the Water boy a little.

She didn’t look like any human he had seen before.

“I didn’t think I would have to answer a call on this sphere in like forever…But it’s nice to see you!” She smiled.

“You haven’t changed one bit in two years, Allura”, Pidge answered with a smile. “Nice to see you, too.”

Allura smiled and leaned a bit back again. “So, what do you need help with? I gave you this sphere to be able to contact me whenever you need my help and- wait, you have company?”

Her mesmerizing eyes landed on Lance as he leaned closer to the ball and she tilted her head. “Who are you, pretty boy?”

Pidge raised an eyebrow at him as his face heated up – he may be excused for blushing because of a compliment he got from a insanely gorgeous woman.

“That’s Lance”, she answered for him as he didn’t show a sign of being able to speak properly. “I met him yesterday in the forest – and he’s the reason I’m calling. It’s not me who needs your help – but him.”

“Why that?”

Lance swallowed, having recovered again. “I…I’m a Water witch – have been for a little over a year. And Pidge uh…told me that you can also control the Water and are quite experienced with it and maybe…I could learn some things from you? Well, I certainly could, but…It would really mean very much to me since I hadn’t had anyone to teach me anything related to Element magic…and…yeah.” _Stop rambling!,_ his mind screamed at him so he stopped, pressing his lips together.

Alluras smile only widened and she chuckled a bit. “Oh, I would love to teach you some new things. Come and visit me and I’ll see what you’re already capable of and what you can learn from me. You really seem like someone who I’ll enjoy being with, and I haven’t had a student in years. I’m looking forward to meet you.”

“I…I do too”, Lance hurried to say.

Allura looked at Pidge again. “Will you join him? I already told you we have to meet in person some day and it seems like this day has come now. I can show you some new stuff too.”

Pidge blinked, clearly a bit surprised. “You want to see me too?”

The Element witch laughed loudly. “Of course I want to! Pidge, Meredith told me so many great things about you and when I spoke to you that one time, I knew I had to meet someone with a bright spirit and abilities like yours. So, I’m really looking forward to that.”

“Uh…well, then I guess I’ll be joining Lance.”

“Wonderful! I’ll expect you to be here during…” she briefly closed her eyes, remaining silent for a few moments. “During the next eight days.”

“We’ll be there.”

And with that, Alluras body started to dissolve into green and blue nebulas again.

 

The two young witches stared at the crystal ball for a few moments, then looked at each other.

“Huh”, Pidge suddenly said, a grin blossoming on her face. “You’re still red.”

Lance gasped. “Excuse me?? That lady was a goddess, okay?? And she said she was okay with teaching me?? How can I not be flustered by that??”

Pidge laughed. “Calm down, Water boy, I’m only teasing you. I’m just as excited to meet her as you are.”

Then she looked on the ground as both their cats suddenly entered the room, jumping on the bed and Blue immediately claiming her place in Lance’s lap. The boy huffed and started stroking her softly, scratching her behind the ears to which she meowed contently.

“Perfect timing, as always”, Pidge whispered with a smile as she lifted Green up and kissed her head.

For a few minutes, the teenagers were playing with their cats, refraining from speaking to each other.

Then, the girl sat Green down again and stood up, yawning. She placed the crystal ball back on its shelf and turned around again to look at Lance.

“Take a rest”, she said. “It’s already late and we gotta get up early tomorrow – the only way over to Alluras mansion is over a small pass in the mountains. I still have to look up which way exactly it is but I’m positive the forest will help me.”

Lance nodded, still deep in thoughts and scratching Blue a bit manically.

Pidge watched him then snapped her fingers in front of his eyes. “Lance?”

“Huh?” He blinked at her.

“Get ready to sleep. You can stay in this room, I still have a few things to do then I’ll go to sleep too. Is it okay if I join you? The bed can hold us both.”

Lance hesitated but then smiled and stood up. “Sure thing,”

As Pidge left the room and Green followed her, the Water witch looked down on Blue. “Guess what, girl…I finally found someone who’s gonna teach me. Everthing I need to know about being a witch connected to the Water.” His bright smile made his eyes sparkle and Blue meowed as she sensed how excited he was.

“I can’t wait to learn more.”


	4. Saved by Ice and Vines

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> During a rest on their way through the forest of the mountains, Lance and Pidge witness a witch hunt and are quick to save the hunted witch - a mistrusting, black-haired boy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The moment you've probably all been waiting for: Keith makes an appearance! :D
> 
> I was too impatient and couldn't wait to continue this fic; plus I was bored so here's Chapter 4 - two days after Chapter 3.
> 
> Enjoy - i would be damn happy over kudos and comments!!

The morning was still young and the air humid with fog as both witches left the small shack and went on their way into the woods. Pidge had assured him that she now was sure of were they had to go; and even if she lost her way, the forest would surely lead her back onto it. He should not worry about that.

So, Lance decided to trust her word and just trail behind her, his eyes occasionally wandering off to Blue who calmly walked next to him and meowed when she lost sight of her new friend Green. From time to time, she looked up to him, checking on him and purring in contentment when she felt his excitement, his magic calmly resting until it was needed.

Lance smiled softly at her, then his gaze landed on Pidge.

He would have never thought that he would find a new friend who was so similar to him – and even if she wasn’t a Water witch, she was an Element witch too and those were said to be quite rare.

She had helped him quite a lot and was willing to join him on this journey of meeting Allura despite only knowing him for about two days.

Lance still wondered what a coincidence it was that they both lived only a few hours apart.

Looking up into the dark blue sky, he couldn’t help the feeling of relief over his decision to follow that thought that had told him he would find answers to his questions deeper inside the forest – and now he was so close.

Allura, a witch so powerful she seemed like a goddess out of an old legend, had agreed to meet him and probably teach him some things - things he desperately wanted and needed to know about controlling Water. Things he could actually take profit from…and maybe she could teach him a way of training his healing abilities without having to hurt himself.

Deep in thoughts, he looked down on his hands, then raised the right one and watched as his veins started to glow.

He watched the fog swirling around them, concentrated on the tiny waterdrops in the air and tried to pull them together and towards him, so they would form a small ball of water on his palm – but his concentration broke when a bird’s whistling startled him and with a low curse he watched the waterdrops he had managed to pull towards his palm splashing on Pidge’s hair.

A bit surprised, the girl turned towards him and raised an eyebrow.

“Stop splashing me. Or is there something bothering you that you decided to play around with water right now? Or tried to.”

“Nah…” He sighed, trying to smile a little. “I’m just excited to meet Allura. Because…see, even this simple exercise is difficult for me…I sometimes ask myself how I manage to stay dry in the rain when I can’t…urgh.” Frustrated, he kicked a stone, his mood darkening at how…how untrained he felt.

Pidge watched him. “Hey, Water boy – it’s okay. It’ll be okay.” She stopped to grab both his wrists and link her eyes with his. “You’re amazing at other ways of Element magic, I can see that – and Allura will help you with the whole…controlling Water outside of your body. With the part of your magic you can’t control that well yet.” She smiled comfortingly. “Okay? Have faith in yourself.”

Lance sighed but nodded slowly. “Yeah…”

“Believe me. She’ll see how much potential you have and she’ll do everything to make a Master witch out of you.” She gently squeezed his wrists and Lance stared to believe her.

Maybe he really was an untrained Water witch…but he could at least use the magic inside of himself to heal.

And now, if Allura really teached him, he would be able to do so much more – it was difficult to even imagine what that ‘more’ could be.

He really was excited.

 

It may have been a few hours that they had been walking now, the road slowly getting steaper, the pine trees getting higher and they both were getting hungry, so they stopped and sat under a tree, eating a few snacks and taking their first rest of the day.

Suddenly, they heard voices.

Many, loud voices, quite close to them.

Lance frowned, sitting up and staring into the direction the voices came from. They had left the path they had been walking on and were now resting about twenty feet away; the shouting voices seemed to come out of the direction they were going.

“What’s going on there? I thought you said we would be alone on this path?”

His eyes briefly locked with Pidges.

The girl’s eyebrows were drawn together and her eyes started to glow as she reached out through the trees to see what was going on. “I really thought that would be the case…Normally, no humans are using this track…But-“ She stopped herself, her eyes going wide. “I…there is magic.” She paused, reaching further with her magic and suddenly her eyes widened in horror. “Someone with magical abilities. Lance, that’s a witch hunt!!”

In an instant, she jumped up and started to run off.

“Pidge!! Wait!” Vibrating with the sudden rush of horror and adrenalin, Lance told Blue to stay back with Green and quickly followed the Forest witch.

Someone with magical abilities…Humans hunting after a witch…

Anger started to burn through his limbs.

He was someone who rarely got angry but...he knew how much it hurt to be rejected only because he had been given magical powers – something that nobody could influence.

Knowing that someone else had to endure that too – also in a much worse way than he had been treated – made his blood boil with icy anger.

It manifested in the glow of ice magic around his hands and mere seconds later, he had caught up with pidge and the two Elemet witches saw the mob that was running after a single, stumbling person.

Lance barely managed to pick up shouts like “Burn in hell, you child of the devil!”, “Spawn of Satan!!”, “I’ll kill you once I got you!”, before suddenly giganteous branches of the trees on both sides of the road came crashing down and startled the mob into slowing down. Screams of surprise and pain echoed through the dust and noise as some people were hit by the branches and broke down.

Pidge’s voice, loaded with magic, boomed like thunder over the deafening sounds. “Stop the hunt, humans!”

With a sideway glance towards the girl – who looked quite frightening with dozens of vines swirling around her, an aura of green, powerful magic surrounding her, her eyes spitting angry green glowing fire and her hands raised while holding green spheres of blinding light – he set off to run after the unknown witch.

He knew that Pidge could deal with those humans – and something inside of him told him that he had to do everything he could to help this witch.

So he jumped over the fallen branches, running as he saw the disappearing figure sprinting even faster.

Oh Elements, hopefully he was able to reach them soon enough…

“Wait!”, he shouted. “Please, I only want to help you!”

He saw the witch trying to get faster, even if they clearly were exhausted. A dark-purple cloak was flutterinig behind them and Lance just couldn’t seem to get any closer – when suddenly, a startled yelp of pain rippled through the air and he saw the figure breaking down.

The Water witch cursed under his breath and ran faster, slowing his steps down once he came closer to the witch – a young man, as it seemed – and raised his hands when he was nearly standing still, the ice sinking back into his skin.

An inky-black haired head shot up and violet-glowing eyes threw a dangerously burning glare at Lance. “Don’t you dare coming closer!”, he hissed.

Still with his hands raised, Lance tried to smile reassuringly, slowly taking another step towards him. “I just want to help you. I’m a witch like you.” His eyes started to glow as his ice magic slowly seeped out of his skin. “See? And I have the ability to heal people. I can help you.”

The glare stayed but the hand the witch had raised at some point of Lance’s talking slowly sunk again. After a few seconds, his look slowly morphed from death threat into something skeptical and mistrusting, he tried to sit up a little, pushing himself up on his elbows.

“How do I know you won’t only help me for your own benefit? So that I owe you something?”

The mistrust in his voice hurt Lance. He sighed, kneeling beside the stranger witch.

“You know…I haven’t been a witch for too long and you’re like the second witch I’ve ever encountered in my life. I couldn’t just…not help you. I…we could not ignore it when we heard them screaming after you. I know that you need help and I know that I can do it.”

His steady gaze linked with the violet glowing eyes and slowly, but surely, the glowing subsided and he sighed, flinching with a curse as he sunk back on the ground and tried to move his ankle. “Ahh…Fuck…” His face twisted in pain.

_And yet it still was a freaking beautiful face,_ Lance’s mind helpfully chimed in.

He tried to not let that thought develope into a blush.

“I can fix that, you know”, Lance quietly said instead. “Looks like you broke it.”

“Yeah, no shit, I can feel that”, the black-haired boy snapped at him, his face twisted in pain as he tried to breath through it.

Lance raised an eyebrow, waiting as the boy’s ragged breaths slowly calmed down

Eventually, he sighed, quickly lokking at Lance again, then away again. “Okay, fine”, he mumbled.

“You sure?”

“Just do what you gotta do if you so desperately want to help!”

“Okay, okay”, Lance hurried to say and quickly looked around. There was no one in sight so Pidge must have taken care of the people – so he should have enough time to properly heal all the stranger’s wounds.

Helping the witch to lay down a bit more comfortable – as much as it was possible on the cold forest ground –, he reached down to unclasp the dark-purple cloak.

He looked quite beaten up, bruises, scratches and dirt covered nearly every part of his visible skin – which was quite much since his shirt was nearly ripped to shreds, big holes adorned his pants and the skin was colored an angry burning red; there was a gash on his face, from his forehead over his left eye down to his chin, blood was slowly dripping down his face onto his torn shirt and on his bare arms were wounds that looked like quite severe burns.

Not to speak of his ankle.

“What are you doing??” With a hiss, the boy slapped Lance’s hands away again as they touched the cloak.

He raised an eyebrow and stopped. “I thought you’d let me help you? I have to be able to reach your injuries and your cloak is in the way.”

He was quite proud of himself that he got that out fluently since first, yes, the stranger was insanely attractive – even underneath all the dirt and injuries – and second…he radiated such a warmth that seemed to lure Lance in and pull him towards the other like a magnet.

And it was not the warmth of someone who had a fever.

No, it was comforting, burning, melting the ice on his soul…He wanted to bath in it forever.

“Sorry for my curiousity again”, he mumbled, trying to distract himself from that thought as he continued his work of getting access to all injuries on the boy’s body and his warmth seeped inside the skin of his hands. “But what’s your name? And what abilities do you have?”

Lance was quite sure he knew it already; but since the possibility of meeting yet another Element witch was so small, he wanted to hear it from the boy himself.

But the witch only looked away again, biting his lip and not answering.

Lance sighed.

Well, but what could he expect…It wasn’t like this boy would trust him only because he wanted to help him.

Once all injuries were laid free – which were quite a few –, the Water witch started to concentrate to pull the water magic from the icy lake inside himself and willed it to surround his hands like gloves.

“It may hurt, I’m already sorry for that…”, he warned before lowering his hand over the deep bleeding gash on the stranger’s face and then his magic went to work.

Deep purple eyes snapped back to Lance and widened a gasp and he was captivated as they met his ocean blue glowing gaze.

Something happened.

Suddenly, the deep, calm source of magic inside of him roared to life, started to pump wave after wave of ice cold magic through Lance’s veins, making him feel more mighty and powerful than he ever had.

Competing with the stranger’s extreme body heat, Lance’s water-coated hands traveled over his body with the coldness of the deepest ocean once the gash was healed, closing other open wounds, soothing and healing the burned skin on his arms and legs until they eventually stopped at his ankle, never once breaking eye contact with the boy.

His magic was alive, floating through him and he was unprepared at how raw, powerful and indestructible it felt.

But somehow, he was able to control it so it wouldn’t overwhelm him in this moment when he needed to stay concentrated.

The Water witch nearly flinched back at how…how wrong and twisted the body’s energy felt inside of the indeed broken ankle, but he kept his hands around the joint, taking a deep breath and directing his power towards the injury, the coldness nearly becoming unbearable as the magic shifted broken bones back into their place, stitched up ripped blood vessels, snatched sinews and pulled teared muscle fibres back together.

He didn’t hear a scream from the other one but by the time he was finished, slowly resurfacing out of his concentration and blinking slowly as his magic calmed down again, the black-haired boy was panting, his hands gripping the grass tightly and his violet eyes brimming with tears of pain.

Lance watched him for a few seconds, captivated by the boy’s beauty.

Until he broke the eye contact, squeezing his eyes shut quickly, then opening them again, surprise replacing the look of pain. He moved his limbs, eyes going wide as he moved his ankle and there was no pain.

Then his eyes landed on Lance again who was watching him with still faintly glowing eyes and a small smile on his lips.

The black-haired boy swallowed, linking his gaze with the Water witch again.

“I…I’m Keith”, he whispered, all his mistrust suddenly gone, replaced by an almost shy vulnerability. “And…I’m a Fire witch.”


	5. Healing you

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance and Pidge talk to Keith and they get to know why he had been hunted by the people out of his old town.  
> Lance makes a rash decision that...might not end well.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Uff. I changed up the whole script I had for this chapter...cause I had this amazing idea of how to bring Shiro in this story (which I hadn't intended until now) aaand...yeah.
> 
> Prepare for some angst, folks! :D
> 
> And leave some kudos and comments if you liked it!^^

On their way back to their resting place, the two boys met Pidge again. She looked dishelved and drained, her hair a mess and her hat gone but her green eyes shining brightly.

They looked the two of them up and down and raised her eyebrows in a look of surprise. “You…wasn’t he in a much worse shape?” Nodding towards Keith who watched her with bleary eyes, she looked at Lance who supported him – because once, he was still a bit weak on his feet and twice, he couldn’t get enough of the heat radiating off him.

“He was… But I could heal him. His ankle had been broken”, Lance answered but suddenly started coughing, his throat dry and scratchy like sand-paper. He groaned. Fuck, he needed something to drink…right now.

Pidge’s eyes went wide at both the news that he had been able to do that and as she saw how drained Lance looked.

“I had told you I could heal people”, he said quietly as she didn’t answer for a few seconds.

She bit her lip, then sighed.

“Well, I guess you need to recharge your powers then.”, she quietly answered, looking at Keith. “Judging from how you’re looking you must have used quite a lot on him.” She paused. “Can you…walk? Or do you still need a bit help?”

The black-haired boy watched her for a few seconds, then sighed. “I guess I’ll cope”, he mumbled, removing his arm from around Lance’s shoulder with an almost reluctant slowness.

Lance blinked at him, confused as he went towards Pidge with slow steps.

His mind was fuzzy.

“Lance.”

His eyes snapped back to Pidge, he let out a cough again, feeling as if he might go crazy over just how dry and empty his body felt.

And the thirst.

As wonderful as Keiths body heat had been…he needed Water. Now.

“Not far from here is a river. I’m sure you can sense it – go recharge yourself before something bad happens. You’re already sucking out every bit of Water from the air and plants.”

Surprised, he stared at his hands, seeing the tiny waterdrops flying towards them and sinking in his skin but it just wasn’t enough.

So, he nodded slowly, linked his gaze with Keith once again whose gaze got clearer with every passing second. While his own vision seemed to be starting to blur at the edges.

“Wait where we left our bags, Pidge. It might take a little…time, but…I’ll be back.”

She nodded. “Just go.”

With a last glance towards her, he disappeared between the trees, feeling burning violet eyes following him until he couldn’t be seen any more.

 

Until now, Lance had never used his powers to that extent – not when he had healed Blue, not when he had trained the healing on his own wounds, not…never.

So, he wasn’t prepared for the icy dryness that had taken over his whole body, making it so difficult to walk that he stumbled over nearly every root and bump on the ground, and for how numb it made his limbs feel.

Black spots danced over his vision and as he finally, finally heard the burbling noises of Water, of a river, he almost screamed in relief.

Running down to the shore as fast as he could, he unclasped his cloak, threw off his boots and just walked into the deep water, his skin immediately starting to glow a calming blue as it greedily started to suck in the icy cold water.

He wasn’t afraid of drowning; he could drink out the whole river if necessary with how drained and dry he felt.

So, once his whole body was under water, he opened his mouth, letting the water flood him and with every passing moment, the burning thirst was washed away and replaced by a wonderful, cold calmness.

Lance allowed himself to smile as his magic was able to renew itself again, flowing through his limbs and soothing the numb aching.

A few minutes later – or a bit more, he didn’t know how much time had passed – he felt way better than before and resurfaced again, blinking the water out of his eyes and looking around with a gaze much sharper than before.

Looking at his hands, he grimaced a bit at how his fingers had turned blue and the bandages around his wrists had loosened themselves and the one on his left arm even had disappeared somehow so now the scars, littering the whole skin of his underarm, were visible.

“Well…”, he sighed, walking back to where he had left his cloak and his boots. Drying his soaked-through clothes with a bit of concentration, he got fully dressed again, then looked up into the sky which was widely visible over the large river.

His eyes widened, and he cursed as he saw that the sun had already begun to set…Had he really been under water for that long??

Well, he had told Pidge that he would be away for a while, but he didn’t intend for it to be that long…

And probably Keith worried about him too.

Oh, who was he kidding…Why would he. They had just met – and that kid was so…mistrusting…He would probably leave as soon as he got the chance to.

Even though Lance…didn’t want him to leave.

He shook his head to get rid of that thought and sighed.

“Okay, time to go back”, he quietly said to himself, pulling the cloak a bit tighter around himself and starting to walk back into the direction of their little camp.

 

By the time he reached their little place, roughly half an hour later, Pidge jumped up as soon as she saw him. “Lance!”

Nearly running over towards him, she threw herself around his neck and hugged him tightly, letting out a small shriek at how cold he was.

He chuckled and briefly hugged her back. “Don’t say you were that worried about me like I’ve been away for a week or so.”

“I was worried, shut up”, she mumbled, letting go of him again. “You looked quite awful as I saw you both a few hours later. Even worse than Keith. Like you’ve used up every ounce of your power. And…you’ve been away for so long…Of course I was worried.”

Her green eyes – which weren’t hidden behind her glasses any more, as Lance noticed – looked him up and down with great worry and he just had to smile, ruffling her hair a little bit.

“Pidge…I had but I’m okay again. The river had been just what I needed.”

His gaze landed on Keith who was sitting at a small fire a few feet away from them and Pidge sighed as she saw where his eyes looked. “Go talk to him. We’ll talk later, okay? I think I need a power recharging as well.”

Briefly hugging her again and kissing her forehead, Lance nodded, then walked over to the black-haired boy.

His legs were tucked to his chest, his arms slung around them and his chin on his arms, while he stared into the flames, the orange-golden light reflecting in his beautiful indigo eyes. They quickly darted over to Lance as the Water witch sat next to him and he didn’t miss how the boy stiffened a bit at his closeness.

“I don’t bite”, he smiled quietly, making himself comfortable and briefly looking towards Blue as she came darting at him and jumped into his lap with an overly happy “mreowww!”.

Smiling at that and scratching her softly behind her ears, he looked at Keith again who was watching him out of the corner of his eyes.

Biting his lip, he slowly nodded at Blue. “I like her. She’s…a beautiful cat.”

Lance blinked a bit surprised, that was not what he had expected. Then he looked down on his cat again. “Making new friends, I see”, he told her and continued scratching over her back, grinning at her increasing purr and how she snuggled deeper into his lap.

“She likes you too as it seems”, he quietly answered Keith. “And uh…her name’s Blue.”

The Fire witch nodded, a very small smile on his lips. “And yours is Lance, I guess.”

“Uh…yes, I’m Lance. Sorry, I forgot to…tell you.” He smiled sheepishly and a little embarrassed.

“It’s okay.” Keith chuckled a bit and Lance’s cheeks reddened in a blush.

It was ridiculous but there was something about this boy…not only his Element, his abilities, his _heat_ that made him the opposite of Lance and with that everything he had ever wished for…but…for everything that was holy to Lance…this boy was attractive.

Like…gorgeous.

Not in the same way as Allura had been, but…in his own way.

He was a little shorter than Lance, his inky-black, messy hair went down to his shoulders, his ripped shirt revealing pale, scarred skin and beautifully defined muscles, his legs strong and just as defined as his upper body.

He was a gorgeous boy, but the most beautiful thing about him were his eyes…A dark indigo that was alive with storming emotions and currently staring at him.

Lance blinked as he realized that he had been staring too and cleared his throat a little awkwardly, looking away to hide his blush.

“So, uh…”, Keith spoke up again, his voice a little rough. “Thank…Thanks for the help, I guess. And uh, sorry that I’ve been so…unfriendly, but…” he shrugged, sighing and his smile slowly fading. “Well. And thanks for not sending me away again. I was dreading that a little.”

Lance scoffed, pulling his knees to his chest. “There’s no way I’m gonna send you away if you don’t want to go, what made you think that? I…I think you’re cool. And I’d like to get to know you a little more, since…”

He shrugged, biting his lip. “Well, I don’t know that many witches yet and you seem quite interesting.” Watching Keith trying to hide a smile, he hesitated with his next question.

“And uh…you don’t have to answer that, but…who were these people? And…why did they…why were they after you?”

Keith immediately stiffened, his hands gripping each other tightly. For a few seconds Lance wondered if he had crossed a line and asked too much, but then the boy sighed, rubbing his eyes.

“It’s not…Well, I…”, he tried, then stopping himself, looking at his fingers.

“These people where citizens out of the town I live in.” He stopped again. “Had been living in…I guess I’m banned now.” Swallowing, he clenched his fingers into fists.

“And…I guess you can answer that second question yourself if you’ve heard what they had been screaming after me.” His voice had become bitter.

“’Child of Satan’…?”

Keith nodded, closing his eyes. “Everyone there…is utterly convinced that…being able to breath and create Fire – like I am – is a curse straight out of hell.”

Hugging his knees again, he stared into the flames with a look so intense like he wanted to blame them for everything he had to go through.

He probably also did.

“I hate this”, he whispered brokenly. “I…one moment we all sat at the table in peace and were eating, the next moment, I…there’s Fire inside of me, everywhere around me and my mom screams for me to stop…” He hided his face in his knees.

“I saw the…my brother…I hurt him…so bad…” His voice got even quieter, he sounded close to tears.

“And…once my father realized what I had done…He…he kicked me…kicked me out of the still burning room – I had to run away…out of the house and he was following me, screaming after me…more and more people saw us and were running after me once my father screamed that the devil itself was with me and I had killed Takashi…”

A sob wrecked through his body and Lance was frozen in shock.

Recognizing Pidge who had come back and now saw them, he linked eyes with her as he looked up and she swallowed, wearing a similar expression of shock on her face which showed that she must have heard what Keith had said.

Or at least a big part of it.

Lance swallowed, inching a bit closer to Keith. “So…your magic revealed just today?”

Not looking up, the Fire witch nodded. “And I hate it. I wish…I wish I could go back in time and punch whoever thought it was a good idea to curse me with the ability of creating Fire and made me responsible for…for…” He sobbed again, not able to continue speaking.

Not knowing what to say to comfort him, Lance inched closer again, slowly laying an arm around Keiths shoulders, hugging him after a moment completely when the boy leaned into his embrace and hided his face in Lance’s neck. Firy tears touched his skin as a whimper left the boy’s lips.

It was a bit worrying how hot…burning the boy’s body had become and Lance felt his ice magic resurface, cooling down his own skin to compete with the extreme heat of the other witch, trying to sooth the raging Fire magic a bit.

“Shhh”, he quietly cooed. “You’re not to blame for that. You couldn’t have controlled it. It’s okay. And I’m sure he…your brother will be alright. He won’t die. You didn’t kill him.”

Softly speaking into Keiths hair with icy cold breath that melted into steam as soon as it had reached the Fire witch, the two boys sat in their close embrace for a few minutes while Lance thought about what to do. What he could do.

He quickly looked down on Blue who had walked over to sit in Keiths lap and snuggling into him while meowing worriedly.

Okay, his cat already had seemed to take a liking on the Fire witch so there was no way she would be letting him go.

And as for himself…

He wouldn’t let Keith go either. That much was clear to him now.

Contemplating his possibilities, he thought about going back into this town to see if he could do anything for Keith’s brother. But if he would do that, he had to be careful and…he had to go alone. Nobody might see that he was a witch or else…with the opinion those people probably had on magic…and with how they had reacted as Keith revealed himself…

They also knew about Pidge since she was the one who had stopped them from further going after Keith. So, if she suddenly appeared inside the town, this probably wouldn’t end well – despite her powerful abilities.

No, Lance had to go alone.

So, he pulled a bit back to be able to look into Keith’s eyes. “How far away is your town from here?”

The Fire boy blinked in surprise, sniffinf a bit and drying his tears. “Why do you want to know?”

“I…just trust me, I need to know. Maybe I can help your brother the same way I helped you.”

Keiths eyes went wide after he was silent with shock for a few seconds.

“What?? You would really do that?? You barely even know me! And…you were so drained after you had healed me…Takashi is probably…he…his whole body had been burned – I don’t know if he’s even alive any more!”

“Don’t say that – I somehow know he’s going to be alright. Trust me. And I was able to recharge myself in a river near here so that’s not a problem.” He smiled. “So?”

Keith still stared at him with wide, unbelieving eyes, then he swallowed and with a very quiet voice started to describe the way to his town, as best as he remembered it.

Lance nodded and stood up after he had told him how he would be able to find the house the young man most likely would be in.

“You stay here with Pidge”, he then told Keith and quickly raised his hand as the other boy wanted to contradict. “Please. I know we’ve only known each other for…a few hours, but…please stay with her. Don’t follow me.”

He looked at Blue who had linked eyes with him, her tail whipping against Keiths legs.

“Same goes for you, young lady. You stay here – I know you’re able to calm him down so please do that while I’m away.”

Her answering “Meoww!” almost sounded desperate and she suddenly jumped up into his arms, snuggling against him and purring against his neck.

He sighed, scratching her. “I’ll be back, don’t worry about me. Just…please don’t follow me. I can get away without being discovered but more than one witch would be suspicious And I know you’re more useful here than you would be with me.”

Gently prying her claws out of his shirt, he set her down into Keiths lap again and turned around, unclasping his star-spreckled cloak and leaving it next to Keith, same for his pointed hat.

As he was walking towards the end of the small clearing, Pidge stepped before him, having listened to his whole conversation with Keith but didn’t speak up.

“Why are you doing this, Lance?”, she quietly asked. “You don’t know him. You don’t know if his brother…if he isn’t dead. Burns from Fire magic are almost deadly…can be deadly and who knows how much of it has hit him when it was breaking out of Keith.”

Lance sighed. “Why won’t you even let me try, Pidge? I know that I don’t know him – but I trust him. Remember how we both had trusted each other instantly after we had met? Just…” He took the hand she slowly had raised to put on his arm. “No. I’m going. I have the feeling that that man is still alive, but he will need help as soon as he can get it – and I’ll go alone. Please stay with Keith. If some of his people are able to find you here, I trust in your abilities to defend yourself.”

She looked up at him with glassy eyes and swallowed. Then she hugged him tightly, face pressed into his chest. “Come back again, please”, she mumbled, her voice muffled by his clothes. “Those people won’t hesitate to hurt you badly when they discover what you’re capable of.”

Lance nodded. “I will”, he promised, hugging her back for a few moments, then letting go of her and stepping into the dark shadows under the trees.

 

Finding his way into Keiths old town wasn’t really difficult despite the darkness – he just had to follow the path into the direction they had been going and turned to the left as soon as he saw lights in the distance, walking through the bushes for a few seconds.

Houses appeared in front of him and he stopped, hiding as he heard a group of people coming closer.

“Should we really continue searching after him?”, a man asked, a bit hesitant. But another voice scoffed as soon as he was finished. “Of course! That spawn of the devil had nearly killed my son – I will strangle him as soon as I get him! He deserves nothing less than to die.”

That must be Keiths father.

Lance nearly scoffed at the thought that probably Keith could kill him before he would be able lay a hand on him.

Quietly, he continued to walk through the bushes as soon as the men had passed, still loudly discussing about where to search after that certain witch.

Entering the town – which was more of a village, if Lance was really honest –, he quickly looked around to see if anybody was coming his way.

He was happy he had left his cloak and the hat back at their resting place or else the people – if they saw him - would have been able to identify him as a witch right away.

Trying to get his bearings by the tall houses surrounding him, he slowly walked down the main street until he had reached a building that looked like the one Keith had described to him.

It was a miracle that no one had stopped him until now.

But seeing that there was a man standing in front of the big doors, Lance had to stop.

They had placed a guard in front of a building that looked like a hospital…What were those people afraid of?

Well, maybe that Keith would be coming back to kill them all.

Maybe they deserved it.

But now Lance had to think about a way to get into that building. What if he…?

Taking a deep breath, he walked towards the door.

“Stop! Who’s there??”, a loud voice stopped him, and he saw the man raising something that looked like…a gun.

Oh, Elements.

Lance swallowed and stepped closer, despite the sudden fear spiking in his guts. “I’m a healer. I heard there was a boy who had been hurt and needs help?” His voice steady and deep, he looked towards the man, surpressing his magic with all he had.

He wouldn’t be able to save himself if that man shot him.

“Yeah, a fucking Fire witch revealed herself today. He’s going to get killed once they get him. But I don’t remember anyone telling me about a healer. That boy’s a goner – he’s going to be dead by the end of the night.” The gun stayed where it was – pointed at Lance’s chest.

The Water boy scoffed. “What do you know about things like that? Nothing. That boy’s still alive and now let me through or he’s really going to die.”

He saw the man hesitating and already prepared himself to freeze the air around them to suffocate him – but then the gun sunk, and the man sighed, stepping aside. “Second room on the right.”

Lance nodded, slowly stepping through the doors as the man opened them, throwing a last glare towards him.

His senses on high alert, he walked along the hallway and entered the room the man had told him the injured boy would be in.

 

Burned flesh.

That was the first thing Lance smelled as he stepped inside the room and he nearly started coughing, pressing his hand on his mouth and nose to avoid breathing in too much.

He felt that Death was already present inside this room, so he then steeled himself, making sure to close the door properly and walking towards the bed which stood in the middle of the room, taking in the appearance of the body which laid on it.

It was a young man, judging by his build…but almost his whole body was covered in bandages, which already were wet with blood and other fluids seeping out of open burns and Lance had to swallow.

Was this really something he was able to heal…? Why didn’t he think this through before he had left…?

He walked at the right bedside and softly touched the bandages on the young mans face.

What was his name again…? He thought Keith had called him Takashi.

Well, Takashi was it then.

He seemingly was unconscious, but as Lance slowly unwrapped the bandages of his face and touched the burned and weeping skin, he could still feel energy flowing through the body in a twisted and fast, but somehow steady heartbeat.

That boy was still alive.

Barely, but he was alive and fighting.

And now Lance had to do everything he could to bring him back from the brink of death.

Starting to unwrap the bandages on the whole body – and trying to hold back a gag at how nasty the open and weeping burns looked –, he slowly took more and more deep breaths, concentrating on the ocean deep source of ice magic inside of himself.

“I will probably hurt you before this gets better…I hope you can forgive me for that…But you will live. I promised it to Keith”, he mumbled to the unconscious boy.

Once all the bandages were away, Lance started to pull up his magic which started to surround his hands with blue glowing water in mere seconds. Taking a deep breath, he laid one hand on the boy’s breast, where his heart was, and the other one on his forehead and started to concentrate.

Immediately, he sensed the remains of magic…Fire magic. Keiths magic.

His own powers reacted again, roaring up and starting to spread the blue magical essence over the boy’s face, covering the nasty burns, sinking into the skin, soothing and starting to heal the burnt tissue.

This would probably take a while…He just hoped the boy wouldn’t wake up from the pain this would most likely cause him.

 

Nearly an hour later, Lance was drained.

Almost completely this time.

But he wasn’t finished…the boy’s right arm…some nasty scarring would be left behind, and he even might lose it if Lance couldn’t finish the healing…There were still…his right hand was burned down to almost the point of unrecognizability.

So he gritted his teeth, forcing the last bit of his magic out of himself and letting it seep inside the open wounds – as a pained groan suddenly startled his already weak concentration.

He looked up to see blary, gray eyes watching him. They widened as they met his glowing blue gaze. “Who…what…?” A cough from a rough voice. “Who are you…?”

Lance shot up as voices neared the door. Oh, Elements…

He had to get out of here.

Looking into the gray eyes again, he pulled his hands back. “You’ll live now. Don’t blame your brother for what he did to you – he couldn’t control it.” He didn’t like how rough his voice sounded…

Oh Elements, this was even worse than when he had healed Keith.

So now, he quickly walked to the back of the room where he had discovered a window, opening it and ungracefully jumping out the moment he heard people entering the room.

“Wait!”, that rough voice called after him, but he didn’t stop, stumbling away into the darkness of the forest as fast as he could.

Which wasn’t very fast by how weak and drained he now was.

He just heard a faint and shocked “Takashi!” behind him as he was stumbling away from the town. Fear surged through his body at the thought that they might catch him, hunt after him if they had seen that he had used magic to heal the boy.

But his mind was swimming, not able to keep thinking about that possibility, his vision blurring at the edges and was he walking into the right direction…?

The thirst was allconsuming, his body weak and dry, his throat itching.

He coughed, looking around as only the darkness under the trees surrounded him. Which way was…where were Keith and Pidge again…?

He couldn’t remember.

Oh Elements, his head didn’t leave place for more than the thought of how desperately he wanted to drink something. Water. He needed Water.

He needed…

Stumbling against a tree, he pressed his hands against his chest as dry ice seemed to spread through his insides. He coughed again, whimpering helplessly.

“Fuck…”, he softly said to himself as he lost consciousness and fell to the ground.


	6. Can you save my heavydirtysoul?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keith and Pidge find Lance in the forest.  
> Keith realises some things.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For once, here a chapter from Keith's point of view. :D
> 
> Prepare for a little angst again, my dudes, I nearly cried while writing the last scene of the chapter - cause...uff. Keith needs a fucking break buut I'm not about to give him one, haha.
> 
> Hope you enjoy it! Tell me what you think and don't hesitate to leave comments!
> 
> One last thing: next friday, I'll be leaving to spend New Years Eve with some friends on an island and I most likely won't have enough service to upload. Soo, I'll probably post another chapter as long as I'm still home - but Idk if I'll be able to do that.
> 
> Anyways, I'm wishing everyone who's celebrating a wonderful, merry Christmas and happy holidays! A great big thanks to everyone reading this FF, leaving Kudos and/or comments - I love you all! You're the reason I keep writing and it always makes my day when I read what you're writing in the comment section here.
> 
> Gosh, I'm getting cheesy, I'm sorry.
> 
> Enjoy the chapter!!

Restlessly, Keith paced around on the small clearing where Pidge and he waited for Lance to come back. Cursing under his breath, he continued looking into the direction the Water witch had left into. Why was this taking to long??

“Keith, it’s no use for anybody if you keep pacing like this. Please – you’re driving me crazy.” Pidge sat on a pile of leaves and vines in front of the small fire behind him, the hood of her cloak drawn up, her sand-colored cat in her lap and her eyes fixated on Keith with an almost desperate sheen and blinking tiredly.

“I know, but…argh, fuck! I can’t help the feeling that something went wrong; what if they caught him??  I…just…no!”” Gripping his black hair tightly, he tried to calm himself down, but it was no use.

Since the Water boy had healed him, he desperately longed for more of that icy coldness, something that was able to calm down the raging Fire inside of him…and now that Lance was away…He felt like snapping at Pidge during every five seconds due to the desperate restlessness burning through his limbs.

He was so angry that he could’t seem to control what was happening inside of him…that his…the Fire magic inside of him reacted so strongly at his emotions – especially negative ones.

The Forest witch sighed. “Let’s not think about that, okay? I’m keeping my eyes open, the entire forest here around us is watching out for Lance and I will know when he’s coming our way or if something went wrong and people are hunting after him. We were able to help you like that, after all. Don’t worry, Lance will be okay.”

She smiled as Keiths eyes locked with hers. “Really?” He bit his lip.

“Yes, really. Now come here and do something to make Blue come out of the cloak.” She pointed towards Lance’s dark-blue, star-spreckled cloak which he had left here, and which now had a noticeable bump inside.

Keith couldn’t help but snort a little at that picture and walked over, picked up cat and cloak and went to sit down next to Pidge.

Sure, Blue was Lance’s soul-animal – Keith had heard that some witches were able to form a bond with some animals that tied them together like soulmates for life –, but somehow, she seemed to have taken a liking on Keith too.

When he softly stroked over her back, hidden under the fabric, she made a low purring noise, head poking out and ice blue eyes looking at him. He smiled a little, she was really cute. “Come out, now”, he softly said, scratching softly between her ears. “Let’s play a little until Lance comes back, hm?”

She meowed, coming out from under the fabric and snuggling into his lap, turning onto her back and raising her paws a little, purring. He grinned and softly started scratching her belly.

Pidge watched him a little, then smiled. “You know, if you want to, you can come with us.”

“Huh?” He looked at her, a little surprised. “Come with you where?”

“Lance and I are crossing the mountains to visit someone who can teach him how to control his Element magic further – we just left my shack this morning, so we still have a long way to go. You can join us if you want to – or do you have somewhere else to go?”

Keith stiffened, overwhelmed by the sudden pictures racing through his mind. His home…burning…Takashi – no, Shiro… He swallowed. His chest started to ache and the words _your fault, your fault, your fault_ kept aussaulting his mind, together with the image of Shiro’s burned body.

Everyone, really everyone that had once meant something to him had participated in hunting him.

Well, Shiro did not – but…well.

He hated himself – he never wanted to be a Fire witch and still wanted nothing more than to be freed from this curse.

“No. I don’t”, he whispered softly, his grip on Blue’s fur tightening unwillingly until she hissed wih pain and he flinched back, letting her go in an instant and quietly mumbling an apology.

Pidge bit her lip, thinking a bit. “Then come with us”, she said after a while. “I’m quite sure you’ll enjoy our company and…I think Lance will be overly happy if you decide to come with us.”

He looked at her, indigo eyes vulnerable and full of pain. “You think he does?”

Pidge snorted. “Keith, he…he decided to go into your town to heal your brother. Who probably had been hurt really badly by your…outburst. Just after rescuing you and…talking with you for half an hour. I don’t know Lance for that long yet but I’m quite sure that’s not something he would do for everybody.” She stopped, hesitating for a little bit.

“We both were alone for quite a while before we had met and well…you’re a Fire witch, the opposite Element of Water. I’m sure he sees something in you.”

But before Keith had any chance of answering at that, her eyes went wide and she shot up. “Lance!”

“What? What is happening – is he coming?” Jumping up quickly, he stared at her with wide eyes.

She swallowed. “Fuck…he…we have to find him, Keith…He’s lying on the ground…Something happened…I think he passed out!” And with that, she ran off.

Keith stared after her for a second, then started running too, the truth burning through his chest as he realized what her words could mean: the people of his town had gone after him and hurt him…or he had overdone himself with the task of healing Shiro…and now, he was…somewhere…here…unconscious… probably hurt…vulnerable…and it was Keith’s fault.

His alone.

The icy and dry air burned in his lungs as the ran after the Forest witch through the trees. “At least he seems to be alone…there’s no one near him!”, she gritted out, releaving a little bit of the pressure on Keith’s chest.

He wasn’t…they hadn’t hunt after him.

Minutes later, they both skidded to a halt next to each other, Pidge looking with wide eyes at the plants around them and letting out something that sounded like a confused curse.

Keith had to swallow.

The trees and bushes where they had made themselves a place to rest had been green and alive, the air humid with fog – but here, everything was dry, lifeless and dead. A leaf floated to the floor, crumbling to fine dust as soon as Pidge touched it.

The air was dry like in a desert and Keith even discovered the dried-out bodies of two squirrels on the ground.

The Forest witch cursed. “He’s somewhere here. It has to be really bad if…if he was instinctly drawing water out of the forest plants – and this in such a wide range.”

So, the two continued running, the bad feeling inside of Keith getting stronger again.

Only seconds later, he stopped again. “Pidge!!”, he screamed as she had run past him and slowly walked towards an unconscious Lance, broken down on the ground.

Silent with shock, he kneeled down next to him and wanted to touch his skin as Pidge’s voice stopped him. “Wait!”

She came to a halt next to him, breathing as hard as he did. “Don’t touch him. We don’t know what will happen to you if you touch him in this state. He’s completely dried out – he’ll suck up any Water he can get and that’s…dangerous.”

“And how can we help him then, huh?? We have to take him somewhere!!”

“I know! Let me think, would you?!” Cursing again, Pidge looked around – as she seemed to have an idea.

Taking a deep breath as her eyes started to glow, she knelt next to the Water witch, speaking a bit calmer again.

“Luckily, the river’s not far away from here.” Her skin seemed to dry, taking the appearance of dried-out bark and her voice deepened with her magic.

”I now might be able to touch him without his magic sucking out all the water out of my body – you follow me. And stay away from him. For you, it’ll be more dangerous than for me.” She went to haul Lance on her back, standing up again with a little struggling.

Keith hated how helpless he felt with only standing at the sides and watching her.

She cursed again quietly. “Come!” As fast as she could, she started walking off in between the trees.

 

After a few minutes, they finally reached the big and calm river. Keith and Pidge walked into the water, Lance still on her back.

When she couldn’t go any further, she let him slip off and with Keiths help – who she now allowed to touch Lance, since they were in the Water now – carefully lowered him into the deep water, sighing in relief as his skin started to glow a bright blue.

Only when his whole body was covered and the glowing intensified, she dared to look up towards Keith, smiling a little.

He carefully cradled Lance’s head in his hands, biting his lip. “Will he be okay?” He tried his best to not let his voice show how afraid he was, but he didn’t think he did a good job, judging by Pidge’s softening look.

“He will be. It’ll take a while until all his powers are on full force again, but he should wake up at any minute now.”

Keith slowly nodded, moving to stand at Lance’s side and watching his brightly blue glowing face, covered by icy water.

True to Pidge’s word, a few minutes later, the Water witch resurfaced out of the water, blinking at his surroundings and looking at the other two witches with bleary eyes. “Pidge…Keith…?”

The Fire witch stared at him for two seconds in surprise, taking a step closer to lay his hands on his shoulders.

Then hugged him tightly as tears started to burn in his chest.

Why was this idiot so cute and also so…hecking…reckless and…gorgeous and…what were these thoughts??

“How did I earn all this affection?”, the Water witch quietly chuckled, laying his arms around Keith and embracing him.

The Fire witch blushed and retreated from the hug, his heart pounding rapidly, he coughed awkwardly and avoided Lance’s gaze. “Th-Thank you. That…you did this. For Shiro. I…don’t know how I can thank you enough…for this.” He looked back at Lance again, his cheeks colored a bashful pink.

The water boy smiled, carding his fingers through his wet brown hair and biting his lip a little. “You don’t have to thank me for that.”

“But I want to!” Fuck. He’s known the Water Boy for only maybe a day, but he already…Fuck. Who says that?? Who tells you to not voice your thanks to someone who just saved your brother after you had thought you killed him??

Lance apparently did.

Damnit, Keith was conflicted. He sighed, turning away from Lance as he didn’t answer, just stared at him in surprise and walked out of the water.

Fuck.

What did he get himself into this time?

A lot of trouble apparently. Well, mostly trouble for his heart.

 

Sitting at the fireplace again, he stared into the flames. He was alone, Lance and Pidge still at the river because the Water witch still hadn’t reached back his full force and had to stay in the water for a bit longer.

Even though he hated his powers, Keith had to admit that there was something hypnotic about watching the flames licking at the small pieces of wood he had used to light it. The colours were beautiful, glowing orange mingling with a warm yellow and an occasional flickering red, sometimes a burning blue mixing in when the flames burned hotter than normal.

He sighed, changing up his positions a bit and watching sparks fly up into the sky.

Maybe…maybe it wouldn’t be a good idea to go with the other two Element witches. Because…well. He couldn’t be falling for Lance, goddamnit, no!

The boy was hecking gorgeous, yes, and Keith was so, so gay and…argh, no!

But…he had helped him when his people had hunted him out of the town and even went back to save Takashi…Shiro...even if he didn’t have to do any of this…he comforted Keith and it was so easy to talk to him…And fuck, don’t get him started about that glorious coldness his body emitted…

Keith groaned, burying his face in his hands. He already knew he had no other chance than to go with them – there was no other place for him to go.

And even if that thought did stung quite a bit, he couldn’t help the thrilling feeling about being able to spend more time close to Lance.

Damn, he was falling deeply.

He looked down as something warm and fuzzy rubbed on his shin. A small “Meoww” reached his ears and Blue looked up at him, her icy blue eyes sad.

“No, don’t be sad, beautiful”, he quietly cooed, shifting to sit cross-legged and lifting her up in his lap where she instantly curled up and snuggled into him. A small smile played around his lips; he still didn’t understand how that cat…what she saw in him.

But since she didn’t shy back from the heat trapped inside of him, he didn’t question it but started scratching her back softly, combing through the silky cold fur and smiling at her increasing purr.

“You should smile more”, a voice, much too close for his liking, suddenly startled him and with a yelp, he flinched, turning his head to look at Lance with wide eyes.

“W-when did you came back?”, he asked with a slightly shaking voice.

“Just a few minutes ago. Pidge’s going to get us something to eat and to set us for the night…or at least for a bit sleep.” His eyes briefly looked up into the sky which had turned from a dark, rich indigo to a slowly brightening pale blue, then turned back to look at Keith again. He smiled tiredly. “She told me she asked if you’d want to come with us.”

Keith blinked. “Uh, yeah.” Blue looked up from her place and meowed happily at Lance, stretching herself to climb into his lap and snuggle into him. The Water witch smiled at her, cooing softly and Keith ignored the slightly hollow feeling that sneaked upon him as Blue left his lap.

Blue was Lance’s soul-animal, not his. This was stupid.

“And?”

“Huh? And what?” Caught in his thoughts, Keith blinked.

“Do you? I mean, wanna come with us? I’d be really happy if you do.” A pink blush colored Lance’s cheeks but he didn’t look away.

“Uh…yeah, I think it’d be cool.” Keith allowed himself to smile a little hesitantly, biting his lip. “I’d like to come with you.”

Lance’s smile was so bright it seemed to light up the dark shadows around them. “How cool! That’s amazing, I can’t wait to be traveling with you. I’m sure Allura can help you too with your powers.”

Keith blinked, a little overwhelmed. “Allura?”

“Uh, she’s a witch who’s able to control all five Elements and Pidge and I are going to visit her so uh…I can learn from her how to…manage controlling Water that isn’t inside my body.”

Slowly, the Fire witch nodded. “Okay…” Maybe, if she was that powerful, she also knew a way to help him get rid of his powers. A way that wouldn’t kill him during the aftermath of it.

Maybe like this, going with Pidge and Lance would even make some sense.

They didn’t have to know what he…maybe planned on asking that witch.

Lance smiled, leaning back a bit and stretching as he yawned. “When’s Pidge coming back? I could fall asleep at any moment now.”

“Uh…Can’t we just settle down while we wait for her? I mean…”, a yawn interrupted Keith. “I’m pretty tired too.”

“I guess we can…” Looking around a bit, he seemed to think for a few seconds, then took his cloak, wrapping it around himself and scooting closer to the small fire they had made.

Closing his eyes and seemingly concentrating for a bit, he started to mumble a few words in a language that was foreign to Keith, then opened them again, staring into the flames as his eyes glowed a bright blue and snapping his fingers.

The flames, having slowly died down during the last hour, shot up higher again.

Keiths eyes went wide with surprise. “How…how did you do that?? I thought you weren’t able to control Fire??”

Lance grinned at him. “I’m not, but I can light a fire with using a certain spell. I learned that from Pidge. But apart from that…well, Fire’s your Element magic, not mine.” He shrugged, lying down on the ground and snuggling deeper into his cloak.

Keith blinked. “Uh…okay…” Still a bit surprised over what had actually happened right now, he drew his legs closer to his body, hugging his knees with his arms.

He watched as Lance played with Blue for a bit, quietly laughing at her and talking to her in a hushed whisper, seemingly having forgotten that Keith was sitting two feet away from him.

Oh, damnit.

He was so doomed.

Keith groaned internally as he realized he had been staring at Lance for the last two minutes, a weird feeling fluttering through his stomach at that laugh, at that happy, sleepy giggle that sounded like music in his ears…

No, no, no, no.

That would so not happen.

Nope.

Gripping the edge of his torn cloak tighter, he stood up to walk a little away from the fire which made Lance sit up and look over at him. “Where’re you going?”

“A little away from the fire. I’m…it’s too warm here for me to sleep.”

He settled down on the opposite end of the clearing eventually, curling up under a tree and watching Lance laying at the fire and looking over at him.

He couldn’t exactly see the look Lance was giving him, but he was pretty sure the way his shoulders slumped before he laid down again meant…sadness.

Oh, how deeply he wanted to go over…He would be able to calm him down, calm that fucking Fire inside of him that had started to rage again…

NO! No, no and double no! He would not show weakness right know and beg Lance to hold him, to give him what he so deeply desired…

Even if it hurt like hell to hold himself back like that…

He had to. He would not give up his heart like that again.

Firy tears kissed Keiths cheeks as he silently cried himself to sleep.

_The world was dark, silent._

_Where was he?_

_Looking around, he swallowed as the darkness disappeared and suddenly the buildings of his old town appeared in front of him, people walking past him, smiling at him._

_He was inside of his house, preparing dinner with his brother. Takashi, who joked around with him, laughing freely as they put bowls and cups on the table. His skin was still unmarred, whole, and a sting raced through Keith as he realized what was happening right now._

_What would be happening in a few minutes._

_But he couldn’t do anything._

_They were sitting around the table, their father drinking, calling after his wife to give him more to eat, shouting at her when she dropped something – and then…as it happened again due to her shivering…he stood up…and started to hit her._

_Once again, Keith felt raging hot anger rush through his veins, he screamed for his father to stop…and there suddenly was Fire…Fire everywhere…inside of him, around them, everywhere…_

_Panic surged through him as he caught sight of Takashi, burning in flickering flames, his gray eyes staring at him with a look of shock and disbelief._

_And suddenly, the scenery melted away and Takashis face was replaced with Lances, blistering burns appearing on his arms, legs and face but still his chilling blue eyes stayed on Keith with a burning intenseness._

_Shiros voice vibrated through his mind. “Your fault. Your fault. Your fault.”_

_“You let us down, Keith.” Lances voice, shivering with disappointment._

_“NO!”, Keith screamed, hot tears surging out of his eyes and he reached out for Lance. “No, please…!”_

_But the Water witch seemed to float away from him, becoming smaller and smaller as the world became darker and darker again._

_Only his voice echoed through his mind, mingling with Shiro’s. “It’s your fault…You’ve let us down…You forget about me…You killed me…”_

_“NOOOOOO!”_

With a scream, vibrating full of fear and panic, Keith jolted awake, stretching out his arm. “Lance!”

Shivering in fear and not even realizing that sobs had started to wreck his body again, a few seconds passed until Keith realized that there was someone talking to him, someone was next to him, that there were suddenly arms around him, cold arms, so wonderfully cold…

Lance.

Turning his head sideways, his tear-filled indigo eyes met with worried, icy blue ones.

“Keith? Keith, buddy, can you hear me?”, his voice, the same as in his dream, but now shivering with worry and slight desperation due to him not answering.

Instead of an answer, the only thing that came out of Keiths mouth was a whimper.

His chest was on fire and the sobs still wrecked his body as he pressed into Lance, hugging him tightly and burying his face in his neck, soaking up the roaring waves of ice that crashed against him and helped soothing the burning ache inside of him.

Lance’s arms tightened around him, and he pulled him closer so that the two could lay a bit more comfortable. “I’ll stay here…gonna keep the nightmares at bay for a bit”, he mumbled, carding icy fingers through Keiths hair and holding him close.

“Please don’t leave…don’t let go of me…” The whispered words, nearly choked up by sobs and tears were almost unhearable but Lance still understood, tightening his grip once again and swallowing.

“Never”, he promised.

Held by the Water witch and surrounded by wonderful coldness, Keiths magic was finally able to calm down again and he fell back into a somewhat calm sleep.


	7. Drowning in darkness

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The group continues their way and Lance comes in conflict with himself as he realizes his feelings for Keith.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A little - a lot - Langst, my dudes! 
> 
> Hnrgh, I feel like I still could write a million things better than they are right now in this chapter, but I'm leaving in two days and tomorrow will be much too busy for me to update so I'll post this chapter like it is now...hope you still like it! If something is bothering you within this or anything feels off, feel free to comment and tell me!
> 
> Already wishing everyone a wonderful rest of the week, a beautiful New Year's Eve and only the best for 2018! Hoping everyone will still stick around when the new year starts!
> 
>  
> 
> (I thought I would have uploaded at least half of the story by the end of this year, but oh dear, nope. This story is getting overwhelmingly big and I might even be able to turn this into a book once I'm finished, lol.)

Lance wasn’t able to sleep.

He sighed, looking down on the dreaming Fire witch curled against his side, fingers holding onto his shirt with a desperate tightness and his beautiful face set into a frown, twitching from time to time.

Softly, he swiped some hair out of Keiths face, smiling a little when the twitching subsided and the boy cuddled into Lance even more with a quiet sigh.

He bit his lip, not being able to fight off the pink blush that colored his cheeks and the weird feeling fluttering through his stomach. He only did this so that Keith would be able to sleep better, not being interrupted again by another nightmare…right?

He wasn’t so sure any more.

Sighing, his eyes closed as he tried to let sleep take over his mind…but it was no use. His thoughts kept him awake, racing each other through his head – and if that wasn’t already enough, Keiths warm body so close to him…his heartbeat that was like a breathing fire in his arms…kept him from being able to calm down even a single bit.

He groaned, his head thumping against the tree. Where was Pidge when he needed her??

Just like he had called her, she entered the clearing a few seconds later, vines swirling behind her and carrying various types of fruits and vegetables. Walking over to their fire, she let them put all of the food down, then dismissed the vines with a wave of her hand.

Only after that she looked up to meet Lance’s eyes, lifting an eyebrow at his closeness to Keith.

Walking over, she pulled her green gloves a bit higher. “Everything okay? How long have you two been…sitting like that?” She gestured at their sitting positions, on how closely Keith was curled up against the Water witch and how he was the only one that was really sleeping. “And why’re you over here and not at the fire?”

Lance sighed, rubbing over his eyes a bit. “Keith settled down here first…he said it was too warm for him to sleep at the fire. Then he…well…fell asleep here and had a nightmare and I figured it would…help him if I stayed with him for a little while.”

Pidge’s eyebrow climbed higher.

“He screamed my name in his sleep, okay? And not the good kind of screaming it was like…like I…like I died in his sleep or something. Or like…someone else died. Maybe he saw his brother during this dream…and still blames himself for what happened to him.”

Lance swallowed, looking down on Keith, his eyes visibly softening and his voice sinking down in a whisper. “I don’t know, something told me that he would only be able to sleep calmly if I’m near him.”

Pidge watched him, her head tilting a little as she sat down next to the duo. She was silent for a few minutes.

“Lance, to me this sounds like you’re about to develop some serious feelings for this boy.”

He stiffened at her words, stayed silent for a few seconds, then sighed, shaking his head and looking at her a bit nervously. “Why would I do that? No, not me. Heck, I barely just met him, I’m not…feeling things…for him.”

“Be careful, you’re telling me that while Keith is sleeping in your arms.”

Lance snorted a little, looking away. “He…I wanted to help him, okay? Like I said, we just met, there’s no way-“

“Don’t say there’s no way he would feel something for you too. I mean, come on, Lance! Would you look at how he reacts to you?? How you react to him?? You two are compatible in every freaking way! Do you know how damn worried Keith was about you when you took so long to come back out of his town? He…” She groaned, rubbing her eyes and looking at him with an intense, almost pleading gaze. “Just…look at him, Lance! Don’t tell me you don’t see how smitten this boy is for you!”

The Water witch was silent for another few minutes, chewing on his lip and avoiding her gaze.

“That may be right for his magic”, he then softly whispered. “Of course I’ve seen how we react to each other. But…” He hesitated, then quickly looked at her and Pidge almost flinched back at how much hurt glowed through his piercing blue eyes. “I…I’ve experienced this one too many times to…to just trust on what someone says what…the one I’ve been falling for at that time…is thinking about me.” The words were hard to get out and he swallowed, looking away again, down on Keith.

He wanted to loosen his grip on him, wanted to get away from him, but as soon as he moved for more than an inch, the Fire witch followed, pressing closer against him, quietly sighing in sleepy contentment and sending all kinds of mixed feelings through Lance’s body.

He groaned.

“Okay, you’re right, I’m falling for him – and I’m falling hard. Happy now?” Covering his eyes with his free hand, he bit his lip hard.

Pidge nodded, a small smile on her lips. “See, that wasn’t so hard to say.”

“Oh, you have no idea”, he whispered very quietly. “What should I do? Pidge, it just…I can’t be falling this hard for him – I only know him for what – a day? A little longer maybe?”

The Forest witch hesitated for a moment, then inched closer to him. “It doesn’t have to take a long time to be falling in love with someone”, she quietly answered. “It’ll be alright, Lance – trust me. Keith’s coming with us on our way to visit Allura so…you’ll have enough time figuring stuff out – what you want to do, what he feels and…everything else.”

She slipped next to him, leaning into him a bit and providing comfort. “Just don’t stress yourself. It all will figure itself out – and if not, if Keith’s gonna be a dick towards you, I’ll help you kick his ass over the mountains.”

Against his will, Lance had to laugh at that, hugging her with one arm. “Thank you. I’m sure if this happens you end up beating him up all alone. I know you could do that.”

She grinned, leaning at his shoulder. “I sure will.”

Lance smiled, looking down on Keith briefly and wondering how he had been able to sleep throughout their conversation.

Well, he seemed to be able to sleep quite deeply with Lance at his side.

The Water witch blushed as he thought about Pidge’s words from earlier.

 

After a few hours of sleep, the group was ready to continue their way – now with one more witch at their side.

They walked through the humid hours of the brisk and early morning, dew dripping from the leaves around them. Pidge was the only one of them who shivered in the brisk air, so Keith briefly looked at Lance, leaving his side and stepping up to the Forest witch and walking close to her to provide her with a little bit of warmth.

She smiled up at him in gratefulness.

And even though Lance technically knew why he did that, jealousy started to burn through his chest and with it, the brisk air around them suddenly became way too cold.

But he said nothing, trailing behind the other two witches as they chatted quietly and trying to not let his magic overwhelm him – like it almost always did when the bad feelings inside got too much and the ice started to suffocate him.

They hadn’t talked about what had happened this night – and Lance was too shy to really start a conversation about it.

So seemed Keith.

They had been walking next to each other, exchanging little glances from time to time but not talking with each other.

Lance almost wished himself back to the last night where he was able to talk with Keith so freely and hadn’t been afraid to walk up to Keith when he had been screaming his name.

Now, he was even too afraid to touch Keiths hand as they were walking next to each other – but now it was too late anyway since Keith was walking with Pidge now.

Lance had no idea why that bothered him so much.

A startled noise slipped through his lips as Blue suddenly jumped up into his arms and he struggled to catch her. “Huh? Hey, my beauty.”

Smiling a little bit at her purring as she settled into his arms, he softly started scratching behind her ears. But after a few seconds already, she looked up again, locking eyes with him and meowing worriedly as she sensed the shift in his magic, how his skin had become noticeably colder and started shivering.

“I’m…fine, Blue – it’s nothing”, he smiled, whispering so the others didn’t hear the slight strain in his voice.

His cat growled slightly, her ears flattened back as she scratched his arm with her sharp claws, a warning for him to not lie at her.

He hissed. “Okay, okay, no need to hurt me though.”

She looked up at him accusingly, her tail whipping against his arm. _Tell me what’s wrong or I’ll scratch you again,_ her look seemed to say.

Lance sighed. “Not now, okay? We…we’re taking a rest in a few hours again then we’ll talk.”

She seemed content with that answer, curling up in his arms and snuggling against him.

At least her presence kept the worst coldness at bay, so he still could walk behind the other two witches and pretend like nothing was wrong.

Even if nearly everything seemed to be wrong at this moment.

 

Around noon, when the trees became higher and higher, only leaving place for a few rays of sunlight to reach the ground, they finally decided to take a rest.

Lance informed the others that he sensed a waterfall nearby, and given that he felt quite thirsty right now and needed some alone time, this would be the perfect place to stay for a little while.

Pidge looked at him a bit worriedly and told him to not stay there too long. They wanted to eat a bit and then continue walking; they already lost almost a day when they rescued Keith.

Said Keith bit his lip, looking him up and down and then coming close to him. “I hope…is everything okay?”, he quietly asked, placing a hand on Lance’s shoulder.

The Water witch almost flinched at the warm contact but looked away, nodding slightly. “Of course. I just need…some recharge time.”

Keiths brows furrowed and he slowly retreated his hand after a few seconds. “O-okay. If you say so…let me know if I can help you somehow.”

 _By staying close to me and never letting me go By talking to me!,_ his mind screamed but he only nodded. “Will do.”

Putting down his cloak and hat again, he quickly looked at Blue and started walking away from the camp, his small cat following him.

 

Arriving at the waterfall – which cascaded down from an almost wall-like stone cliff into a beautiful small lake –, he quickly looked around, then at the water and sighed, undressing slowly and putting his clothes in a small blue heap behind a bush at the shore. Slowly, he walked into the water, closing his eyes as the coldness started to surround him.

Walking until the water reached up to his waist, he shivered slightly, looking out into the silent and humid forest. He slowly sank down until he was sitting in the water and it rippled around his shoulders, his arms reaching up to hug his legs to his chest.

The water was crystal clear, little fish swimming around him and softly bumping against his skin as they sensed the Element magic that radiated from him in small waves.

He smiled a little bit, watching a red fish lightly touch his hand and swimming around his fingers. After a few seconds, it disappeared again.

Looking around again, his mind began to wander as Blue meowed at him from the shore. He quickly looked at her but then stared at his fingers again, his skin glowing in a faint blue as it reacted to the water around him and refilled what magic he had used to calm Keith down during his nightmare.

But his head…his thoughts, the poisoning thoughts racing through his mind…that was something that couldn’t be healed by the cold water surrounding him.

And to add to this, he felt dead tired. He didn’t get any sleep since he woke up during his last bath in a river…after he passed out from using too much of his powers…Well, sitting neck-deep in icy cold water certainly wouldn’t help him to fall asleep at any time soon.

But that wasn’t why he wanted to come here.

He wanted to think about…his situation.

Having a little time for himself.

Shivering, he curled into himself even more and swallowed down a sob.

Damnit, what was this? Did he have any reason to be afraid like this? To be jealous like this? To wonder why the ice was taken over his body, to keep on hating himself even more for that he now was probably hurting Keith? By staying away from him and pushing him away even if he wanted to do nothing more than to run to him and hug him and kiss him like there was no tomorrow?

He wondered how a kiss from Keith would taste. Would he burn himself? Would he taste like fire and ashes…Or just like…passion and burning desire and…Keith?

He wanted to find out.

Lance groaned, shaking his head vehemently. What was he thinking??

This was stupid. Really stupid to just think about it – because it most likely wouldn’t happen.

Never.

His eyes looked up again as waves rippled around him and the small body of his cat came swimming towards him, meowing worriedly all the way.

He grimaced a little bit, pulling her close towards his chest as soon as she was close enough and leaning back on the stone cliff from where the waterfall was cascading downwards. She instantly curled into him, softly rubbing her head at his naked chest, nosing at the slightly glowing patch of skin over his heart.

“You want me to talk to you, right?”

She looked up at him again, linking her eyes with Lance and putting one paw on his glowing heart, meowing affirmatively.

So he took a deep breath, looking up into the sky at birds he couldn’t hear over the roaring of the waterfall.

“Sorry for upsetting you”, he quietly started, carding his fingers through her wet fur, softly scratching at the old scar on her side and sighing. “I…just…you like Keith, am I right?”

Blue immediately started purring, her icy eyes starting to sparkle with contentment.

He smiled slightly. “That’s what I thought. Well, okay, see, I like him too, but maybe just…a little too much, I guess…” His eyes wandered back up to look between the trees.

“I…you know, we…Pidge and me…rescued him when he was hunted down by the people of his town and I healed his injuries and I don’t know…I also went back into his town to save his brother – I hope he lives, but I’m quite sure about that – anyway…I don’t know why but…I’m reacting so strongly to him, Blue. Somehow…He’s able to melt away the ice that tries to suffocate me when I’m sad or down…and Pidge already said that we’re…compatible in each and every way, but…how?? I just… I don’t know, maybe I’m also kind of stupid for not seeing it, that maybe Keith somehow likes me too, but…”

He sighed. “I told Pidge that I trust him. I really do because he’s also a witch – a fairly new one, too – and he has no reason to harm us. Or at least he hasn’t shown any until now.”

Blue nudged him softly as he stayed silent for another few moments and purred softly.

“Hm? Oh yeah, sorry – what I wanted to say was that I somehow…forgot how to trust people who just…who have your heart. To trust them to take good care of it.” He stopped again, groaning and rubbing his hands over his eyes. “This is stupid. Why am I even thinking about this? It’s stupid to be jealous when Keith stays close to Pidge cause it’s really damn cold and it’s not like I would feel any of this coldness since I’m a Water witch and I should be used to ice and coldness…except that I’m not!!”

Almost shouting, his fist hit the water with surprising force, causing it to splash high around them and Blue to flinch in his lap, looking up at him with big eyes.

He sighed, scratching her again softly in apology. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have done that.” Biting his lip, he looked up into the sky. Birds were flying around, high above the trees and he somehow wished he would hear them but since he was sitting so close to the waterfall, the waves around him were too loud.

Even though the waterfall wasn’t even that big.

“Maybe I should go back…”, Lance quietly said to himself. _Before the others are wondering why I’m once again gone for so long._

But he didn’t get up.

Lost in his thoughts, he sighed, eventually standing up and slowly walking back to the shore, towards the bush where he had put his clothes.

He put Blue back on the ground and stretched with a groan, some joints popping in his back. Somehow, he felt a little bit better – at least it didn’t feel anymore like ice was trying to eat his insides.

Picking up his gray pants, he started to get dressed again, turning around while he did so and now looking in the direction he had come from.

In an instant, he froze in his movements.

Keith was standing at the other end of the small clearing, mouth agape and his face on fire.

Lance felt his own cheeks heat up as he wondered how long the Fire witch had already been standing there.

But he sure as hell had seen him as he came out of the water, so…as he still was naked.

_Oh Elements, please let me die now._

For a few moments, heavy silence hung between them.

“Keith…?”

 “Sorry, I…I’ll go again and…gonna talk to you later”, Keith hurriedly stuttered, taking a few steps back and turning around to leave quickly – but Lance’s voice stopped him again.

“No, wait!” Quickly putting on his pants and somehow snapping out of his shock, he walked over towards the Fire witch. “Wait, please. What did you…did you want something?” Hesitating, he eventually placed a icy hand on Keith’s arm to keep him from walking away too quickly.

Keith stiffened, hesitating for a few seconds. He looked over his shoulder, indigo, burning eyes meeting sparkling icy blue ones before they turned away again. He swallowed. “Nothing, it…wasn’t that important”, he mumbled. “W-we should keep going, Pidge’s waiting for us.”

With that, he shrugged Lance’s hand off and briskly walked back towards were he had come from.

The Water witch swallowed, his hand falling limply at his side. Okay, Keith just came to tell him it was time to go – he was wasting time with drowning himself in his dark thoughts when they had to keep going as long as the daylight was still there.

“I’m just a burden”, he mumbled to himself, walking back to put on the rest of his clothes. “I understand. Well, looks like I have my answer…as for Keith.”

He looked down as he walked back towards their resting place, clenching his fists while ignoring Blue’s concerned meowing next to him and trying to do the same for the ice that started to spread through his insides.


	8. Get me out of my mind

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance and Keith finally talk with each other.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have risen from the dead and I have overcome my writer's block. Partly, at least. Let's see what the next chapter will bring...And even tho I'm still not 100 % sure with this one...I'll post it anyway cause I'm too tired now to still be able to find more stuff I could change.
> 
> Man, this one scene between Lance and Keith was my first time writing something like this and I guess...well, that caused my writer's block.
> 
> Again, I'm talking too much.
> 
> Happy New Year to everyone here too! Hope you all had a good start of the year and I'll wish you much luck and much happiness for 2018 - love you!

The next days were mostly spent in silence.

Keith and Lance barely talked with each other, just the most necessary things – and even for that, they barely dared to look at each other, almost always blushing whenever their eyes met and stuttering out their words.

It was exhausting to watch, if you would ask Pidge.

But as for Lance…He couldn’t just…talk to Keith. Not normally at least, like they had been doing only four nights before; when Keith had told him about what had happened in his town and he had decided to do something to save Takashi – or Shiro –, Keiths brother.

Or like only…the night after that when Lance kept the nightmares away from Keith by staying close to him and keeping him save in his arms…

Why couldn’t it go back to how it had been? Why was this awkwardness here now, smoldering between them and keeping them from approaching each other and talking this whole stuff…out? Just…somehow go back to being on good terms with each other…

Lance hoped that there would be a possibility of it happening some day.

They were resting right now, the Fire witch sitting at the small fire and playing with Blue who had left Lance’s side because she was sick of how…how sorry for himself he felt but didn’t do anything to change a thing.

Lance felt betrayed. Now even his soul-animal, who normally stuck to him through everything, left his side…

He was sitting under a tree a few meters away from the fire, sulking while he had his knees drawn to his chest and arms slung around them. He watched Keith and sighed a bit, instantly getting distracted by the frosty vapor created by his icy breath.

Even if the air around them was getting colder and colder the higher the group came, it was nothing against the aching ice that reigned inside of Lance. He shivered slightly, once again cursing his inability of just approaching Keith and talking to him, getting over this awkwardness and finally getting back some warmth that would be able to melt the ice.

His eyes wandered towards the trees, having spotted Pidge who was coming back from getting them something to eat and performing a power recharging exercise. She once told him it helped her quite greatly when she was meditating between the trees, listening to them talking and donating her the powerful Earth magic.

The Forest witch shot one look between the two boys and sighed in exasperation, walking over towards Lance and sitting next to him.

Their eyes met and for a few moments, Pidge just stared at him with an intense, almost accusing look.

“What?”, he eventually asked, sighing and turning his whole body towards her, watching her with resignation in his eyes.

“How long should this go on like this, Lance?”, she whispered, nodding over to Keith. “Honestly, it’s getting painful to watch how you’re dancing around each other. And since I don’t know if Keith’s gonna do something about it – I also highly doubt it –, I ask you to.”

“How are you so sure that I’m gonna talk to him?”

“Because if not…” Her eyes started to shine with a warning glow. “I will continue my way alone when you’re sleeping and leave you both here.”

“What??” He sat up straight, staring at her with wide eyes. “You wouldn’t do that. We’re lost here without you!”

“I know. And that’s exactly why you’re going to talk to Keith this afternoon – I’m sorry that I must do this, but you two are not giving me another choice.” She stood up again, looking down on him with lifted eyebrows. “Sort things out with Keith.”

Lance whined. “You’re starting to sound like my mom!”

A tiny, amused smile played around Pidge’s lips.

“It’s for your best, trust me. You do want to get along with Keith again, don’t you?”

“I want a little more than that”, he whispered, swallowing and curling in on himself again.

“Sort things out with him. I’m pretty sure he wants just the same as you.”

With these words, she left again.

 

True to her word, Pidge left the two Element witches alone again a few hours later.

Lance watched her disappearing between the trees – not without throwing a last meaningful glance at him – and swallowed, his mouth suddenly going dry.

Oh Elements, why was the thought alone of really talking to Keith again enough to make his heart race like it wanted to break out of his chest?

But he had to get it over with; once, because he knew that Pidge was keeping her word and probably would leave them here that night if he didn’t bring up the guts to talk to Keith; twice, because he wanted to be on good terms with the Fire witch again.

Well, as already stated, he probably wanted a little more than that – but that was on another piece of paper.

Now, his only concern was to at least get away from this horrible awkwardness and somehow back to being normal with each other.

So he sighed, standing up from where he was sitting leaned against a tree and walked over to Keith who once again played with Blue.

If this wasn’t a sign that his soul-animal was so completely smitten with Keith…

“Keith?” His voice was quiet.

The black-haired boy looked up, wide imdigo eyes locking with sparkling blue ones. He looked startled, like he hadn’t expected Lance to come over to him.

The Water boy sat next to him. “Can I talk with you?”

Keith swallowed, placing Blue on the ground next to him and chewing a little on his lips. “S-sure…what is it?”

Almost immediately after his hands were free, they started to fiddle with the edges of his cloak, his fingers shaking slightly, showing how nervous he had to be all of a sudden.

Well, that made two of them.

Lance swallowed, feeling his heart pound in his chest, his head suddenly empty, all the words he had wanted to say to Keith…vanished.

“I like you”, he instead just blurted out, instantly after clapping a hand over his mouth.

Fuck.

His cheeks started to burn.

That didn’t…he hadn’t planned this.

Keith stared at him with big eyes. “You…like me…?” His voice was barely above a whisper and sounded so surprised and vulnerable that it made Lance’s chest ache because of it.

He swallowed, his first thought being to deny it all and to escape again, but…Keith didn’t look at him in disgust or anything, he didn’t move away. If what Pidge had been saying was right…

_Might as well go all in now_ , his mind told him – so he scraped together all courage he could gather and continued in a shaky voice.

“Y-yeah, I do. I think I have since I’ve…since I’ve first met you. I don’t know, I just…something draws me to you and I think it’s because of our powers, but…it’s not only that…I just…I don’t know, I might have also…fallen in love with you…” His voice died down in a whisper at the end and he didn’t dare to look at Keith, choosing to gaze at his fingers instead.

The Fire witch was silent for a few moments.

“Please just…say something…”, Lance quietly whispered as the silence became too loud and as he dared to look at Keith again, he just stared at him with eyes round like marbles and his mouth slightly opened, his figure frozen like he had gone into shock.

“Keith…?”

“I…I…” The Fire boy stopped himself, shaking his head quickly and starting again, his voice vulnerable. “I’m sorry, you’re just…the first one who had ever confessed something like that to me…”

Lance’s eyes went wide again but Keith wasn’t done yet; he inched a little closer towards the Water witch, biting his lip and looking up at him with purple shining eyes.

Gosh, he was so beautiful.

“I’m sorry I didn’t…never approached you during the past days…I was just so confused when I saw you at the waterfall and I…” He sighed, eyes locking with Lance’s with a smile of almost shy admiration. “You’re…pretty, Lance…really pretty and…I uh…I like you too. Very much. And…I feel like I’m…like there’s something that…draws me to you. I just…feel like I need you. It’s kinda scary but at the same time, I almost want…more.”

Lance’s mind stopped. What was this? Why did Keith all of a sudden drop such a bomb on him?? Warn a man before you say something like this??

Oh Elements, his heart…

Keith blinked up at him, now smiling a bit more despite his cheeks glowing in a firy blush. “It’s…the first time I’m feeling so strong towards another person. And…” He stopped as Lance raised a hand, his head tilting in question. “What’s up?”

“Give me a minute, please.” Oh dear, his voice sounded like a dying squirrel…

Keith looked confused but stayed silent for a few more moments.

Lance took a deep breath and tried to calm down, continuing to speak after a few seconds. “Okay, so – you’re saying that…you’re feeling the same for me as I do for you and there is a clear attraction between our powers and…you even want more?”

The Fire witch nodded, now grinning a little bit.

Another few seconds passed, and an almost dazed smile appeared on Lance’s lips. “I’m not dreaming, am I? This is real…you just confessed to me and we…both…did…” His hands slowly moved between them, accenting his try of understanding what exactly just happened.

Keith nodded, his smile widening. His eyes sparkled. “You’re not dreaming.” He scooted closer to Lance again, leaning a bit into his side.

The Water boy hesitated, but then his arm somehow found a home around Keiths shoulders and pulled the Fire witch towards him, closer to his chest.

Oh Elements, how wonderful it felt to finally be able to touch him again…to be close to that wonderful warmth…

The Fire witch let out a tiny sound of happiness and leaned his forehead under Lance’s jaw, almost – no, he definetly did – purring as he did so and sighing contently.

At the same time, Lance felt his skin cooling down, almost freezing as the magic inside of himself awoke and reacted to Keith – whose skin in turn got even hotter as it was now, faintly glowing in a golden red.

Lance could only stare.

He wasn’t really aware of his own magic roaring inside of him – he could only watch how actual flames started flashing over Keith’s skin, changing it and making the witch even more beautiful than he already was.

As he looked down on his own hands, a tiny gasp escaped him as he noticed waves branding over his skin. Huh.

Keith sighed blissfully as he nuzzled into Lance’s neck, his breath rising in a white cloud of steam.

“This is so good…” Almost like he was drunk, Lance felt Keith snuggling into him even more, his arms hugging his waist and suddenly, blazing hot lips pressed a firy kiss to his icy skin.

A startled moan escaped Lance’s mouth as he bit his lip. Fuuuuck…

Heat radiated from the Fire boy’s lips as he carefully sucked at the sensitive skin and despite the coldness coursing through him, hot spikes of pleasure shot down his spine and made him shiver, quickly biting his lip again before a whimper could slip out.

Oh damnit, now he wanted to know how this fucking boy tasted.

Damned be taking it slow.

He pulled Keith a bit back to be able to look him in the eyes and had to swallow once; Keith’s indigo eyes were on fire, the pupils dilated to the point that only a small ring of color was left behind, and he was breathing hard, like he just had run a marathon.

Somehow, Lance had the feeling that he himself didn’t look that much better.

“Oh fuck…”

His whispered words formed icy clouds in front of his lips and Keith was coming closer.

Like he was hypnotized by what he saw in Lance’s eyes.

The next moment they were kissing – and Lance’s world burned down to ashes around him.

He was doomed.

So doomed and he gladly accepted it – when it meant he could keep Keith.

The magic inside both of them came to life, fire and water uniting in a blazing storm of power and Lance moaned as fire burned through his veins, colliding with chilling waves of ice.

His hands were framing Keith’s face, touching his burning skin and the Fire witch whimpered quietly as Lance drew back for a moment, chasing after his lips again and the Water witch sighed as burning hands touched his chest, glowing flames jumping over on Lance’s clothes but vanishing in an instant as they were smothered by ice.

Keith’s magic mingled with Lance’s, alternating between sending the witches through flickering flames of pleasure and drowning them in delicious waves of sweet, sweet love that seemed to send the world around them spiraling down into nothingness.

The Water witch felt more than he heard how a moan passed Keith’s lips and a new, hot surge of Fire magic rushed through him. He shivered almost violently, slowly grabbing the other boy’s arms and pulling him to the ground so they laid next to each other, gasping and moaning as their magic swirled and flowed easily between and around them, sparks of blue and golden energy surrounding them.

They weren’t sure how much time had passed, but at some point they had stopped kissing, only their eyes stayed locked with each other – intense ocean Blue that sparkled and glowed with the vividness of Water magic and purple burning indigo, that glowed and sparkled in the same way.

 

Once their powers had started to calm down, Keith’s eyes closed slowly and he let out a wholeheartedly sigh. A happy smile was gradually forming on his lips, his hands still lightly tangled into Lance’s hair.

Lance was the first one to speak. “Wow…”

“I can’t believe…that just happened…”

Keith giggled lightly. “Guess this shows that Pidge had been right”, he mumbled. “We’re really compatible in every kind of way.” His vibrant eyes opened again, looking at Lance with a gaze of…content satisfaction would maybe describe it best.

The Water witch snorted, pulling him closer against his side. “You won’t seriously think about Pidge now that you’re laying in my arms?”

“Hmmm, I don’t know.” Keith grinned, one hand softly stroking over Lance’s cheek. “But seriously. I saw her talking to you this morning and she must have said something that caused you to come talk to me.”

“Pffft.” Lance looked away, his cheeks blushing.

The Fire witch laughed – oh goddamnit, the boy should laugh more often – and grabbed Lance’s face to kiss him quickly.

“It doesn’t matter. I’m happy that we sorted things out now – kind of at least.”

“Kind of only?”

“Well…” Keith’s smile faded, and his look became insecure, his teeth biting his lip. “What are we two now? I mean, I…this one kiss was…” he hesitated, his cheeks reddening in a blush. “…really amazing and…and I want more and I want you…whole. All of you.”

Lance looked at him with wide eyes, his thoughts stopping for a moment. Then he chuckled almost nervously and winked at Keith. “Yeah…I mean, who doesn’t want more of The Amazing Lance?”

The Fire witch swallowed briefly. “If you don’t want more…that’s okay…I guess…” He looked away, not meeting Lance’s eyes and making a move of pulling free from his embrace.

“Hey, hey, it wasn’t meant like that, I’m sorry… I’m just rambling, I…wasn’t prepared for you to…suddenly tell me this.” He pulled Keith back against his side again and leaned his head against inky black hair.

“Why?” Keith’s voice was very small.

“I…didn’t take you for a very forward guy.” Lance sighed. “I don’t know, we only know each other for what…four, five days now? And everything is still so new and…I never had a relationship with a boy. I…there never was one who fell for me. So…I guess what I’m trying to say is…I’m a bit nervous. But I don’t mean to push you away with being so.” He offered an apologetic smile.

Keith looked up from his place on Lance’s shoulder and met his eyes. Then he sighed, smiling softly. “Guess what, stupid, I’m nervous too. ‘Cause…you’ve been the first one in…ever…who has won his way inside my heart…” He became quiet again, looking away. “It sometimes scares me how intense these feelings are.”

 “Hey.” Dark-skinned fingers softly grabbed his chin after a few moments of quiet and turned his face again until he was drowning in bright, allconsuming blue. “I’m here for you. I guess your feelings have been heightened by your magic – but since I’m your counterpart, I can help you cool down again.” He hesitated. “Like I’ve already done so in multiple occasions.”

Keith smiled again, with so much love and awe in his burning indigo eyes that Lance swore to protect him until he wasn’t able to do so anymore.

He wouldn’t let go of the boy that now leaned his face into the hand that was softly cupping his cheek.

For a few seconds, there was silence again save for the birds up high in the trees, chirping softly.

“I’m so glad you had decided to come with us.” Lance’s words were quiet, to not disturb the peaceful atmosphere that had formed around them.

Keith sighed. “I’m glad too. And I… I’m happy that I was able to tell you how I feel. I wouldn’t have been able to continue this journey much longer with this awkwardness still standing between us.”

Lance grimaced, but didn’t answer. Instead, he just leaned forward and kissed Keith again, already addicted to the taste of his wonderfully warm lips and the soft and happy sigh that escaped him every time Lance gave him more than a second to breathe and to the feel of both their magic rushing freely between them and making them shudder through depths of heightened feelings.

“Well, I guess it was the right decision to threaten you a little bit – looks like you finally talked with each other.”

Pidge sounded terribly smug and caused both Keith and Lance to flinch greatly at her voice, coming from right behind them.

The Water witch turned towards her with wide eyes, growling a little as he stared up at her. “Pidge! What the heck??”

Where did she suddenly came from??

The girl grinned. “What – am I interrupting something?” With a huff, she walked over to her belongings, munching on a juicy looking fruit.

“If yes, I’m deeply sorry. But we should keep going now – we only have four days left to reach Allura’s place.”

“Why do we even have to arrive just in exactly four days? That’s a long time – we won’t need that much.” Lance crossed his arms as he sat up again. Keith followed his example, his cheeks still red from the sudden interruption.

Pidge sighed. “She’s expecting us to come. So, we should be there.”

She didn’t say more as she threw the rest of her snack away, starting to pack her stuff together.


	9. Everything went to Hell

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance, Pidge and Keith arrive at Allura's place.  
> Things don't go as planned when the older witch reveals a teeny tiny detail about Keith that might end this adventure before it had even started.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am back from my hiatus and have another angsty chapter for you, my guys.  
> Allura makes an appearance and for those who are wondering about her obvious hate against Keith's person/ why she reacts like this: it will be revealed in the next one or two chapters.  
> So much I can say regarding Allura's abilities:  
> She's a really powerful witch who not only has an affinity to all five Elements but is also able to sense magic used by non-human beings and look into the future - and she has a really strong hatred against demons. (I just realize that this makes her a little more like canon Allura - even tho she's pretty ooc otherwise.)
> 
> If you still have more questions (cause i think this chapter will definetly cause some confusion) comment and ask me and I will answer!
> 
> Enjoy!
> 
> (the chapter title is more angsty than the chapter itself, lol)

Another four days passed until they finally had crossed the mountains and reached the shore of the ocean. Allura’s home consisted of a small house on the edge of a cliff, like the shacks Pidge and Lance had been living in – only that it was a little bigger and made of stone. Smoke was slowly rising out of a chimney on the top of the roof and the house was surrounded by a few metres of dull, green grass that moved slightly in the wind.

Lance stopped and took a deep breath, closing his eyes and inhaling the salty scent of the sea, something he was so familiar with even though he had never once seen the ocean in his life – it was because it was his Element, his home, his greatest source of power.

Blue looked up from the place on his shoulders where she had been resting during the last couple of hours and purred as she sniffed the air, softly cuddling into Lance’s neck and rumbling softly. He snickered and softly scratched her head a little.

“We’re really here, my beautiful girl”, he quietly whispered.

She snuggled into his hand and purred some more.

As he looked at the ocean again, his eyes were glowing blue and his lips were smiling. Keith and Pidge had already walked a few steps further, but they turned around again, stopping as they saw that Lance wasn’t directly behind them any more. Both were smiling as if they shared Lance’s agitation, as if they knew what got him so bubbly and happy.

A cool, gentle breeze whispered through the air, carrying the rich scent of salty water, sun and nature and playfully ruffled through Lance’s clothes, almost like it was welcoming him. It was a wonderful feeling and the Water witch laughed quietly, cool tears of joy in his eyes as he spread his arms open.

He couldn’t wait to go into the water.

 

But first, they had to meet Allura.

So, the three Element witches continued walking on the stony path through wide meadows with a few wild horses grazing on them and the low tune of a whistling breeze accompanied them.

Keith looked around with sparkles in his indigo eyes, smiling softly at their surroundings – which turned into a bigger, genuine smile as his eyes landed on Lance.

The Water witch couldn’t help but return the smile, excitement bubbling in his veins as his eyes landed on Allura’s home again. What would be waiting here for him? What would he learn here? Would it make him a better witch…a Master witch as Pidge once had said?

He was dying to know everything about her – a witch so powerful she seemed to only exist in legends.

And still, she was more than real.

 

Pidge looked at the two boys behind her as Allura’s house only was about twenty metres away from them and swallowed a little. Keith took Lance’s hand, slipping behind his back as if he was suddenly shy and the Water witch smiled encouragingly at Pidge, softly squeezing Keith’s hand to show him that there would be no need to hide himself.

“Go on”, he quietly said to the young girl.

She nodded and walked towards the door, but before she could even knock, it opened and Allura stood in front of them, smiling widely. “There you are. Come in, my friends.”

She stepped back to let them all in and Lance looked at her with wide eyes as he passed her by.

Even though they had been talking before leaving Pidge’s shack…it had done nothing to prepare him for how beautiful Allura really was. She was the epitome of a woman, almost a foot taller than Pidge – and with that, about four inches taller than Lance –, her skin a smooth, dark brown that was only broken up by the strange pinkish markings on her cheeks and her shoulders, her hair long and silvery-white, cascading down her back in a simple braided plait.

Her smile was blinding, the pinkish-blue eyes sparkling with energy and curiosity. She was clad completely in white, bright tights that hugged her long legs effortlessly, and a dress that went down to her knees and was blotched with every color of the rainbow – it looked like she had thrown paint all around herself and didn’t care one bit if some of it would stain her clothes. Her arms were bare, safe for the dark gloves stained with muddy blotches of earth covering her fingers and the glowy blue bracelet around her right, upper arm.

On first glance, she seemed more like an artist than the powerful witch Pidge had claimed her to be – but once Lance looked into her eyes and saw the energy crackling inside, like the fire he had already seen in Keith’s eyes, he knew she had to be powerful. Not one to underestimate.

The tiara on her forehead glowed in a soft blue.

The little blueish-gray cat on Lance’s shoulder retreated a bit to hide in the hood of his cloak, hissing quietly as she sensed the great amount of magic radiating from the older woman. There was something about her that apparently irked the Water boy’s soul-animal.

“Lance, come in. You’re welcome here.” Alluras smiling voice snapped him out of his trance and he flinched a little. “Uh…eh, yeah. Sorry.” Quickly, he stepped in, allowing her to close the door, softly scratching Blue’s head and cooing at her to get her to calm down again.

The witch’s glance seemed to be searching for something as it rested on Lance for a few more seconds, taking in the cat on his shoulders and the star-spreckled cloak. “I’m glad you’ve made it here.” She looked over to Pidge, her eyes softening as she walked towards the Forest witch.

Slowly laying her glove-clad hands on the younger girl’s shoulders, she smiled again. “It’s good to finally meet you in person, Pidge. You’re as fascinating as your mother told me you would be. I think we will have a great time talking with each other.”

Pidge blushed a little but nodded with a smile herself. “I’m happy that you invited me to come with Lance. I never thought I’d had the chance to really meet you.”

Allura snickered a little. “Well, you’ve taken the possibility shown to you when Lance had arrived at your doorstep.”

Stepping back from Pidge, she frowned. “But you didn’t come alone. I haven’t seen who…” She turned to Keith who had taken a stand next to Lance – and something strange happened.

Her pink-blue eyes widened as she took the appearance of the Fire witch, she took a step back away from them, almost stumbling.

She looked…afraid.

There was something flashing through her eyes that reminded Lance of grief – the pain of a sadness long passed that resurfaced again.

Then her eyelids twitched a little and suddenly her look changed into one of…anger.

Her right hand came up and pointed at Keith, white electricity sparkling around her fingers, ready to break loose in a lightning directed at the young Fire witch who looked at her with big, widened eyes, not understanding why she suddenly looked so…hostile.

Blue jumped from Lance’s shoulder on the floor and started to snarl at Allura.

The witch merely spared her a glance.

“Allura!” Pidge took a step forward, her eyes big and golden as the tension in the room steadily rose. “What- “

“Why did you bring the spawn of a _demon_ into my house?”, the older Element witch hissed. Her eyes started to glow a pinkish white, flashing with sparks of energy.

The boys flinched, and Lance moved to take a stand in front of Keith who had frozen up at her words, not able to reply.

“Don’t say that about Keith”, he warned, his eyes narrowing as they started to glow, and his chest burned with the need to defend his…okay, maybe it was a little early to call him his boyfriend, but they were getting there.

But they were definetly more than just friends.

Jeez, now really wasn’t the time to think about this.

“He’s a witch like me and Pidge and has discovered his powers merely a week ago. He has done nothing to deserve your hate. You may be powerful – but I won’t let you talk to him like this.” His voice dropped into a sharp, icy growl and he felt his magic roaring up again.

Allura’s eyes narrowed, flashes of lightning shooting at the Water witch as their eyes locked. “That witch is nothing like you two”, she spat. “I recognize the signs of demon magic everywhere – now, get him out of this house before I loose myself. And make him leave.”

Her burning eyes landed on Keith and Lance already prepared to start a fight with her – even though he wasn’t so confident about winninng with how dangerous Allura’s voice sounded – when Keith’s quiet voice stopped him. “Lance. Don’t.”

More than a bit shocked, the Water witch turned around. “Keith? But- “

“No. Please.”

Lance felt like he had been kicked in the gut, shutting him up in a really effective way. Plus, the look in Keith’s face was something he had never seen before. Okay well, they knew each other for a bit more than seven days, but…this look of rejection…of pure resignation…Keith’s vivid, purple eyes were dull now. As if somebody had sucked the life out of them.

It looked so wrong on him that it twisted Lance’s insides around to see that broken expression on this boy’s face.

His sad smile nearly broke Lance’s heart.

The Fire witch didn’t say one more word as he turned around and left the house.

For a few seconds, there was silence. And Lance could only stand there and look at the closed door as he was frozen in shock and tried to understand what the hell just happened.

Only Allura’s sigh seemed to bring him back into reality. He turned around with glowing eyes to see the older witch pinching the bridge of her nose, then looking at Pidge and him. She seemed tired, all her anger molten away. Removing her dark gloves, she ran a slim hand over her plait – and that was the moment when Lance saw the scars. Three parallel, thick scars running from the back of her hand almost to the middle of her forearm.

It looked like an animal had tried to claw her hand off.

“That being dealt with, maybe you can show me what…your abilities are, Lance?”

“W-what??” Had he just heard right? She wanted him to go on and just…show her his…magic after what she had just done?

His eyes narrowed as anger spiked at his nerves at the emotionless tone in her voice. “Are you serious right now? You’re kicking out a friend we have made on the way to your house and you just expect me to tolerate that?”

The look she gave him could have frozen his insides to ice if he wouldn’t have been a Water witch and therefore used to the cold inside of him. “You expect me to tolerate a demon in my house?” Her voice cut through the tense air like daggers through soft flesh.

“That is something I will not do. I agreed to start training with you to help you become better in controlling yourself and the Water around you – but if it starts out like this, I will have to cancel our agreement. If you live and train in my house and under my eyes to watch – it will be under my conditions.”

Lance’s lips pulled back in a snarl and before she could add another word or before he could start to process what she had said, he turned around again and left the house.

He had to find Keith.

 

“Keith!!”

His voice carried over the meadows but soon got lost between the noise of the crashing waves and the howling of the wind, carrying the smell of ocean and rain.

“Keith!!!”

A curse escaped his lips and he looked at Blue who had been running in front of him, her tail whipping through the air frantically.

“Fuck…” He swallowed, coming to a stand and carding his fingers through his messy brown hair.

How was he supposed to find the Fire witch out here?

Okay, Allura’s house of stone was built on the edge of a cliff, surrounded by only metres and metres of grass and technically, it should have been easy to find the boy because there were like…not many places where he could hide – but…he was nowhere to be seen.

Like he had disappeared…into nothing.

Lance didn’t want to dwell on how unsettling that thought was and slowly continued his walking.

Where could he have gone?

“Do you know something, girl?”, he quietly asked the little cat in front of him and she stopped, staring up at him with icy blue eyes. Their gazes locked and she suddenly turned away with a meow and looked into the direction of the edge of the wood they had just left merely an hour earlier.

An uneasy feeling started to build in his chest as he saw smoke rising out of the distance.

Black, thick smoke.

As far as he knew…there was no building here except for Allura’s.

No one living here in an area of…at least a few dozen kilometres around here.

So…smoke in the woods could either mean someone was coincidentally camping here…or – and that was more likely since he knew that campfires didn’t cause such amounts of jet-black smoke…

“Keith!” Cursing under his breath, he started running again.

 

As it turned out, it wasn’t a stranger camping near Allura’s home.

It was Keith…standing between the trees as raging fires burned around him, flames twice as high as a building roaring loudly and swallowing up everything that crossed their way.

But the Fire witch remained untouched.

He was a motionless figure in this picture of hell on earth, like he didn’t realize what was happening around him.

Fuck. Lance had to do something! If only to wake up Keith and force him to stop the Fire before it spread over the whole forest!

Coughing from the smoke and the blaring heat, the Water witch reached out to his magic deep inside of himself, letting it flow through his limbs to cool himself down and rinse the dirt from his loungs so he was able to breath again.

But how would he be able to fight against a fire this big?

Briefly, he looked up into the sky.

Earlier he had smelled rain in the air…would a thunderstorm help him? Would it be able to put out the Fire?

“Keith!”, he shouted again, trying to draw Water out of the air to extinguish the Fire in his immediate reach but it was no use – there was nothing left.

The air around him was too dry – and too hot.

“Keith…please! Stop it! You’re going to burn down the whole forest!”

Gritting his teeth the closer he came to the other boy, he swallowed as Keith remained unmoving, not showing that he somehow had heared Lance.

Fuck…

_Maybe this will get his attention._

Willing his magic to cool down his whole body, to almost turn it into ice, he stepped up behind Keith and slowly slid his hands up his tense arms that were clenching his fists at his sides.

“Keith…” Lance’s voice was desperate as he carefully moved around the Fire witch to stand in front of him, his hands never leaving their place on his upper arms.

But Keith didn’t see him. He seemed to look right through Lance, his eyes holding a storm of emotions – grief, anger, desperation and…resignation.

Lance swallowed, tears of ice stinging in his eyes as the resignation took over and the light in his eyes died down.

This time, there were no golden flames floating over his skin and making it glow in the most beautiful colors – no, his skin was pale but burning like the raging flames around them.

He brought his hands up to Keith’s face, the icy touch causing his magma-hot skin to hiss slightly.

“Come back to me…”, the Water boy whispered. “Please.”

Around them, the Fire continued to rage and Lance felt his energy starting to drain and his desperation rising. He just hoped that Blue had stayed away from the Fire so she wouldn’t get hurt – but dear Elements, he was talking of his soul-animal…he hadn’t told her explicitly to stay back so she would follow him.

Of course she was here.

He yelped as the small cat suddenly climbed up his body and situated herself around his shoulders again, not caring of the raging flames around them – just meowing at Lance with a tinge of urgency to keep going. Her body was strangely cold, colder as it normally was.

She felt like a furry, soft body of ice around his neck and it somehow comforted him.

Before the Water witch had a chance to ask her what was going on, he felt a surge of power radiating through him – icy waves of new magic radiating from the small body around his neck and he gasped at the feeling, at the surge of power soothing the magical ache in his body.

Then, he remembered the task at hand again and looked into those empty eyes of Keith.

“Keith. Damnit, I know you’re in there! Wake up, please – we gotta stop the Fire before it gets out of hand!”

Indigo eyes shifted to look at him. And Lance almost dared to cry out in joy that Keith recognized him – as they suddenly widened a fraction and a dark, purple spark lit up, shifting into a dangerous fire and causing Keith’s eyes to glow even brighter now.

His whole expression started to change into something…dark.

“You know now”, the Fire witch started to speak with a voice as if he had inhaled too much smoke. Probably he had.

One hand lifting to hover in front of Lance’s face, Keith’s face stretched into a grin – a grin that bared…fangs?

No, Lance had to be hallucinating. There was no way…He knew for sure that Keith’s canines weren’t… _that_ sharp.

“It’s dangerous that you know.” Purple and blue burning flames started to lick at the Fire witch’s fingers and Lance’s brows furrowed, unsure of what to think of that. Despite the surge of power Blue had been granting him with, he felt his energy starting to drain again, his throat itching with thirst and the black smoke swirling through the heat all around them.

When did Keith suddenly turn on him…?

“What- “

“It’s a shame. He really started to love you.”

This didn’t even sound like Keith any more…what in all five Elements was happening here…?

Lance took a step back, the uneasy feeling rising further. “Keith, stop this, please”, he pleaded. “Think about what you’re doing!”

A deep and dangerous snicker was the only answer he got before the flames suddenly got closer, surrounding him and Blue.

Blue pressed herself closer against his neck, her whole body vibrating and hissing in fear as she warmed up again, heating up as rapidly as Lance did.

Frantically, the Water witch looked around himself, searching for a way out but there was none – the flames even blocked his way to Keith.

“Keith…?” Now Lance was panicking. What…why was this happening…why was Keith attacking him…?

Did he really was about to…kill him out here…?

The ice slowly left his body as the heat got more and more unbearable. He yelped as blue glowing flames licked at his fingers, sending a spark of hot pain up his arm. Quickly yanking them back and pressing his hand to his chest, he tried to look where he knew the Fire witch must be standing behind the flames.

His breathing got faster and he coughed as the heat and smoke burned his lungs.

“Keith! NO! Please!” Desperation colored his rough voice dark and a bloodcurling scream was torn from his lips as Fire climbed up his arms, his legs, engulfing him completely and leaving no other space to think than just…pain. Simple, burning, unfiltered pain.

His consciousness slipped away before Keith’s cackling could reach his ears.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Why do I mostly end my chapters with Lance fainting


	10. I never meant to hurt you so bad

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keith realizes what he has done to Lance and runs away.  
> In a dream, he makes a surprising encounter that leaves him with some answers and new questions.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> From Keith's POV - get ready for more emotions, my people :D  
> I'm not quite sure about this chapter but I think I'll post it anyway now. What do you all think of the characters so far? Allura? Pidge? How she reacts when Keith wants to run away?  
> Keith's mum? :D  
> Since Keith is half demon in this fic, I thought about making his mother a demon and making her visit him in his dreams. I'll probably get to write more about her since Keith and Lance are now separated and Keith wants to be stronger to be able to return to Lance again.
> 
> Does that make sense? I hope it does.
> 
> Aaand since they're always giving me tons of support and helping me out when I'm once again lost in the plotline or don't know how to write this and am unsure about that - I wanna dedicate this chapter to im_dying_squirtle. Their support really means the freaking world to me and sometimes I really don't know what I would have done if I hadn't had them helping me out. <3
> 
> So: enjoy a freaked out Keith, Ladies n Gentlemen!! :D

Some say that being unconscious was like floating through a gentle sea of nothingness. Your body was numb, your senses were gone and your brain was unable to support you with any information about what was going on in- and outside of your body.

It was relaxing, one could say. Like being lost in your own world, in your own mind.

It took a while for Keith’s mind to come back.

First, he felt the hard ground underneath his body, his fingers digging into ashy dirt and his nose breathing in the scent of a dead fire. Then, the soreness came, his whole body feeling like it had used up every last ounce of his power resources, the flame in his chest reduced to a weak flickering.

He was laying on his back, he quickly realized.

Blinking slowly, he lifted his body a litte, groaning as he held his pounding head and wincing as the move prompted a rattling coughing attack.

Why…did he feel so weak…and sore?

“Bless the Elements, he’s awake”, a quiet, female voice breathed next to him and his head turned, his eyes trying to adjust and see who that person next to him was.

“Stay with him. I’m gonna take care of Lance”, a harsher voice barked out and hasty steps walked away from them after a few seconds.

Sounds of something getting lifted of the floor reached his ears as well as a quiet curse.

Wait a second…

Lance?

Keith shot fully up, ignoring his aching body for the split of a second even though a sharp pain through his chest made him hiss. “La-Lance!” He started to cough again.

Small hands were quick to grab his shoulders and support him. “Keith…easy. You’re pretty bad hurt too.” The words were spoken with a soft and shaking voice that sounded like the owner had been crying a lot.

Wait.

He knew that voice.

Slowly, he turned, taking in Pidge’s dishelved hair, her grief-stricken eyes, her singed blue sweatshirt that once had belonged to Lance and somehow found a way in her belongings even though it looked too big on her…

Why…didn’t she wear other clothes when they were at Allura’s house…?

She seemed to shake pretty heavily, taking in deep, shuddering breaths as she took her hands from his shoulders again and tried to calm down a bit.

“What…what happened…?” His voice was rough and judging from her appearance, he had to prepare for the worst.

“Don’t you know any more?”, she quietly asked, fiddling with the seam of her shirt and avoiding his eyes.

He swallowed, shaking his head. “The…last thing I know is that I wanted to get away from Allura as far as possible…so I…so I ran away…”

Pidge bit her lip, closing her eyes briefly and taking another shuddering breath. Tears glistened on her cheeks as they silently ran down her face.

“Pidge”, he urged, looking around and staring at the burned trees, the ashy ground – they seemed to stretch out forever.

What had he done?

The smell of scorched grass and flesh was omnipresent around them.

It made him want to puke.

“What…what have I done?” It pained him to ask her but he had to know.

“You…”, with a sob, Pidge squeezed her eyes tighter together. “Lance is…the Fire…”

Her hands balled to fists and Keiths stomach dropped.

“Lance has third-degree burns all over his body. Magical burns – caused by the Fire you started.” A pause to let the cruel words sink in.

“He’s on the verge of death.”

Keiths head shot up to look at Allura with wide eyes as she suddenly came to a stand next to Pidge, her pink-blue eyes looking down on him with cold hatred.

In her arms…

In her arms, she held the lifeless body of someone who once looked like Lance.

Keith jumped up as he saw him. “No…no, no, no, no, no nonononono….” His breathing quickened as he stared at the unconscious boy.

Lance was scorched all over, his skin flaming red and partly even black, flaking off in ashy particles, his hair entirely gone, his arms covered with nasty, blistering, third-degree burns and almost all his clothes burnt from his body, exposing the destroyed skin to the stale, cold air.

His burns were…pretty bad would only put it lightly…he almost wasn’t recognizable any more, but Keith didn’t need to check for the burned bandages on his arms or the remains of his once dark blue cloak – he knew it was Lance.

He just knew.

And to see and being told that he was the one who did this to the Water witch…That apparently…he was the one who burned him almost to death…Who caused all his pain and all those wounds…

It made a scream of pure and unfiltered horror rip itself out of Keiths chest as he stumbled back.

Flashes of memory raced through his mind, Lance’s face being replaced with Shiro’s and he pressed his hands to his temples. “No…no, no, no, no! That’s not possible! I would never…I would never hurt him like this!”

His desperate screaming echoed through the deadly silence around them.

Hot tears burned in his eyes and blurred his vision as he looked up again, briefly grazing Allura’s tall figure before settling on Pidge who was quietly sobbing and avoiding his eyes.

“But you have.” Allura’s voice was quiet but with an undertone of steel. “Luckily, we arrived before you could kill him completely.”

She was silent for a few more moments.

Then, her eyes flashed slightly and she opened her mouth again as if she wanted to say something more – but nothing came. Briskly, she turned around and walked back to her house without another word, Lance’s scorched body cradled safely in her arms.

It made the ache in Keith’s heart even worse – the further they got away from him, the deeper the thorn of guilt and shame drove itself into his chest.

He crumbled to the ground again, fingers violently tugging at his hair.

Breathing got even worse with every second that passed and pictures from Shiro’s burning face mingled with Lance’s, twisted in agony and screaming in pain as he was engulfes in flames that derived from his hands…from his will alone…

Pidge’s small voice interrupted his thoughts. “Keith.”

He looked up, fists still in his hair and a haunted look in his eyes.

The girl sniffled a bit, her hands curling into fists as she moved a little closer to him.

“Why? Why in the name of all five Elements did you do that to Lance…? I…I thought you love him…” Fresh tears threatened to spill out of her forest-green eyes and Keith’s mind blanked.

He looked down, swallowing and trying to calm himself down to be able to get some words out.

She deserved the truth. She had all rights to be angry with him – to hate him, even.

“Pidge, I…I don’t remember what has happened in that forest. I still can’t believe I really did that to Lance…I swore to myself to never hurt a living being like that ever again…that…that wasn’t me…” His voice was hoarse as he scrambled to his feet, not daring to look at her as his eyes jumped around like a cornered animal.

“I won’t stay here. You’re not safe…with me around here. And if Lance survives…I won’t be able to look him in the eyes any more. I…I’ve already hurt him enough…I won’t be able to…I’d never forgive myself if that ever happens again.”

Something changed in Pidge’s eyes but the Fire witch didn’t see it.

He gulped. “I’m so sorry, Pidge.”

His voice was barely a whisper and he just wanted to run away.

But before he could take the first step to do just that, Pidge was up in an instant and practically threw herself at him, holding onto his waist like her life was on stake if she let go, pressing her face into his shoulder.

Tears quickly started to soak the burned collar of his shirt, but he couldn’t care less about that – why…why was Pidge still reacting like that…? Why did she…care like that?

After what he had done to Lance…the first friend she had…?

Hesitantly, he lifted his hand to run his fingers through her hair soothingly, anything to calm her down – but jerked it away as soon as he saw the residues of ashes on his skin, the purply-red glowing veins underneath and…was that blood…?

Squeezing his eyes shut again, he swallowed. “Pidge…?”

“Don’t you dare to run away now…” Her voice was quiet but determined through the raspiness it still had from her crying earlier. “You gonna stay and work things out with Lance once he…once he wakes up again. I…I want you two to be happy. Please…stay.”

Keith tensed, his hands balling into fists at his sides as pain wrecked through him at her words. Yeah… _if_ Lance would ever wake up again…

“Why? You see what I did to him…you’ve been friends with him for longer than with me! Why…why do you want me to stay…who knows if I won’t hurt him again?! If he even survives…I’ve become a beast, Pidge. He…He won’t be able to become any kind of happy with me.”

Turning his head to the side, he squeezed his eyes shut, praying that Pidge didn’t see the tears threatening to fall.

She let go of him and took a step back, wiping her own tears away and looking at him with slightly narrowed eyes.

“Lance will survive.” A sniffle. “You’re forgetting that he’s a Water witch who can heal himself and…on top of that, Allura is a very capable healer too and I…yes, I think you should apologize to him for this but…Keith…I’m sure you can overcome those things. I thought you two love each other…I thought…I thought there was nothing that could come between you…”

Keith snorted, looking away from her scrutinizing gaze. “Nothing you say?” His voice turned bitter, the words feeling like acid in his mouth.

“Guess…this-“ he opened his arms in a wide gesture, pointing at the burnt trees and the flakes of ashes flying through the air – in general, the whole part of the forest he had destroyed, “-wasn’t part of the deal – me finding out that I’m part demon and almost…killing Lance after that…” He gritted his teeth. “I thought Allura would be able to free me from this curse of Fire – but no, she hates me too much to even look at me because I…”

Cutting himself of, he shook his head. “No. Please…tell Lance I’m sorry. I wish him the best for his training…I never meant to hurt him like this. Don’t come looking for me.” He turned away but then hesitated.

“Farewell, Pidge.”

Before the girl could say anything else, he disappeared between the trees – and her shout of his name faded away in the silence of the dead forest.

 

Keith had been walking through for days now, only stopping from time to time to drink from the water of the river he was following – he had not been thinking about that day when Pidge and him had been carrying an unconscious Lance to the Water after he had completely drained himself with the task of saving Keith’s brother, no, not at all – and to break down under a tree in the evening when his legs refused to carry him one more step.

Like they did right now.

His breathing was fast and his legs gave out under him, letting him crash under a big and mighty tree trunk where he curled up like a cat, whimpering quietly.

The Fire burning inside of him flickered slightly before warmth spread through his nearly numb limbs, making him sigh a little as they relaxed.

But even if he was comfortably warm now – it didn’t stop his stomach from growling in desperate hunger. When was even the last time he ate something…yesterday…? Or was it the day before…?

He didn’t know any more.

Self-hatred burned through him like a fire made from ice – did he even deserve to eat? He was alive, he was okay – well, for the most part – and Lance was fighting for his life. Because of something Keith had done to him.

Because he was cursed with the ability to control the Fires of hell, bend them to his will – and so far, it had only brought bad things upon him.

He had hurt the two people he had ever been closest with, had even nearly killed both, had lost his home and…left behind the first…and only person…for who he had felt something that he could call love.

But…did he have another choice than to leave? It had been for the better, hadn’t it? Lance was safe without him.

Balling his hands into fists, he didn’t fight it as hot tears leaked out of his eyes, running bright traces through the dirt caked on his cheeks and a sob wrecked through his body.

He missed Lance.

He wanted him to be okay again.

Even though he knew he couldn’t go back – hell, he would never get close to him again if it meant that Lance was safe – he still longed so desperately for him.

Longed for his icy touch that was able to sooth the heat burning through him, his ocean blue eyes filled with so many sparkles and shining so brightly with a vividness that pulled him in like he had been cursed, his soft, calming voice that chased away the demons walking through Keith’s nightmares…

Oh, how desperately he wished he could go back again.

His heart ached for the Water witch and the further he went away from Allura’s home, the more badly it hurt.

The forest went dark around him and he let himself cry into a restless sleep.

 

_The world around him was dark and he was alone._

_Nothing new since all his nightmares seemed to start like that lately._

_But the nagging fear of what waited for him in that darkness didn’t come – instead he felt…calm for once._

_Huh._

_Slowly, he turned and narrowed his eyes as the scenery changed and he was standing in a cave, partly dominated by shadows. Bright sunlight seeped inside through the small entrance and as he turned to look outside, the only thing he saw was sand. Lots of sand – a landscape of dunes and stone formations under a cloudless, bright blue sky._

_A…desert?_

_“Hello, Keith.”_

_The gentle, female voice startled him and he spun around again as a figure left the dark blue shadows inside the cave._

_It was…definetly a woman – but…not a human._

_Her skin was a deep, vibrant purple, dotted with something that looked like white scales on her hips and shoulders, her hair long and jet-black like his own, cascading over her back down to her waist. As she looked at him and smiled, white teeth, sharp and thin as needles glittered in the sunlight. Her eyes were glowing – they had no pupils or irises, they were just…purple glowing eyes without pupils – and…she was naked._

_She took a few steps closer to him and slowly lifted a clawed hand – and Keith realized two things._

_First…man, those claws surely could be deadly. And…were those…wings on her back?_

_Surely enough, he could see the tips of two pointed, black wings – barely there, blurry like they were made of shadows – poking over her shoulders._

_Second…she probably was a demon._

_Not that he had ever seen one…but this was probably how he would picture them if someone asked him about the appearance of a demon._

_And apparently, they had genders?_

_He flinched a bit as her black claws softly touched his face and interrupted his thoughts._

_The female demon – he would just think of her as a woman from now on – was at least half a head taller than him, looking down on him with a soft smile that made him relax a bit for reasons he couldn’t point out, even though he was still wary of her sharp teeth and claws._

_Who…who was this woman even and why…why was he not afraid of her…? Why did he feel…so at ease?_

_“I’m glad I finally was able to see you again.”_

_“Who are you…?”, he softly whispered, staring up at her with an expression that could be classified as awe._

_The woman’s smile faltered a bit and she sighed, a sad look taking over her glowy eyes. “I forgot…you do not remember me. I’m your mother, Keith.”_

_Her voice was soft but still he flinched, stumbling back and out of her grasp._

_Who…his mother…???_

_“My…mother…?”, he repeated in a whisper._

_That…how was this real? This only was a dream, wasn’t it…? There was no way a…creature like this…could be…his mum…_

_But…this was probably why he felt so…calm. Why his first instinct hadn’t been to run away from her._

_The purple woman sighed, taking another step towards him, her shadow wings fanning out behind her back. She lifted her hand again, looking at him with an expression that pleaded him to understand and suddenly, there was a small fire burning between her black claws._

_He gasped, staring at her with wide eyes, his gaze jumping from her hand to her eyes. “No…I’ve known my family for my whole life…that…”_

_“But they’re all humans, Keith”, she softly interrupted him. She didn’t need to raise her voice one bit to shut him up. “They found you…and took you away from me. That powerful Element witch had been right – and you know it too. Your ability to create Fire…to control it…it’s something you’ve inherited from me. Your powers are greater than you know just now.”_

_He swallowed against the sudden pain in his chest, his hands curling into fists and starting to glow a purply red, anger building inside of him and mingling with desperation despite the calmness he had felt just a few moments earlier._

_“But I don’t want them!” He looked away as tears burned in his eyes again and a sob burned in his chest. “I never asked for all of this. I almost killed the two people that meant the universe to me…and…this…it’s only bringing me pain! I never wanted any of this! I’m a monster to them!” His voice cracked as the tears streamed down his face._

_The dem- his mother swallowed, lowering her hand slightly, her face twisted in an expression of guilt, sympathy and remorse. “I’m sorry for that…I’m so sorry, my little star.”_

_Slowly, she reached out for him again, hesitating but Keith only looked at her with glassy eyes and didn’t move as he silently cried, letting her rest her clawed hand on his cheek again._

_“I know you have questions…I’m well aware that you might hate me for…letting all of this happen to you. For leaving you in the dark for so long. For…burdening you like this.”_

_She looked away and sighed. “I wish that I could have been able to get to you sooner – maybe I could have saved you from all this misery.”_

_“Then why didn’t you do it? Just…why…? Why did this all come crashing down on me…with just a few words from one witch…why did you leave me alone all this time?” His voice was quiet and full of pain as his eyes closed and he leaned into her touch for a bit._

_He wanted to be angry. He really wanted to – he wanted to yell at her, to run away so he wouldn’t have to face the truth, to punch her and ask – no, demand her to leave him alone but…he couldn’t. His will to fight was almost not existant anymore – even in his dream, he felt so tired. Tired of having to run away, tired of keeping his guards up, tired of…being alone._

_The guilt in her eyes intensified and she looked like she was in pain._

_“I wasn’t able to. Your demonic side had to be awakened to strengthen your powers – because even though you already had them, I felt that there was something that kept me from reaching out to you. Something…cold. Magic. Ice magic.”_

_Keith blinked, confusion clouding his eyes. “…Lance?”_

_It hurt to speak his name._

_Her head tilted to the side. “Is that the name of the boy who constantly was with you during the last days?”_

_Keith looked away and didn’t answer._

_“How…was he keeping you from reaching out to me?”, came the whispered question after a few minutes._

_“He…” The demon sighed again, letting her hand fall from Keith’s face and looking into her palm again as purple glowing flames appeared in it, licking on her fingers in an almost fondly way._

_“There’s something about him that keeps my magic from working.” Her tone was distracted, she watched the Fire dance around in her hand._

_“I was angry about it for the first days because I thought that once the Fire awakens inside of you I would be able to talk to you – but he somehow…tamed you. I don’t really know how to explain it. And it created a barrier that kept me from visiting you in your dreams.” Her hand balled into a fist and the flames vanished._

_“As I said, I was angry about it and wanted to take matters into my own hands – but as I saw that you…united with him, I refrained from hurting him.” She paused. “I wouldn’t dare to hurt my son’s mate.”_

_“M-mate??” What the…??_

_Keith’s face got bright red but before he had the chance to prod further and ask her what this all was about and if she maybe could help him, her purple eyes shifted to the entrance of the cave and she tensed._

_“It’s getting dark – you must go. I’m sorry – I will explain it all to you, don’t worry. But now go before someone finds this place. I will see you when you fall asleep again.”_

_With a last smile, her hands turned him around and pushed him towards the setting sun and he barely had a chance to stutter out a “W-wait!” before she suddenly gave him a push and with a startled scream, he started to fall into allconsuming darkness._

With a gasp, Keith shot awake, looking at his surroundings with wide eyes and breathing hard. He tried to calm down from the sickening feeling of falling into nothingness and leaned forward with a groan to cover his face with his hands.

Okay, so apparently, he had a mother who was a demon…

Who passed her Fire abilities on him…

And the people he had been living with for the past eighteen years…hadn’t been his family all along.

Well, he had always wondered why he never seemed to be able to fit in. Why Shiro was the only one who really had…accepted him. Who stood with him when the kids bullied him for his quietness, for just being different than them. Who comforted him when their father had been lashing out again and hurt Keith a little too much.

Who was just…there for him.

His chest ached at the thought of him.

But even though he knew he missed his brother dearly – the longing for Lance was even stronger.

What had his…the woman – he wouldn’t be able to think of her as his mum for a long time – called him…his mate? What…why in all five Elements?

Rubbing his hands over his bright red face, he groaned again, forcing himself to stand up.

He needed to move on – he needed to get away.

Maybe there was a way to control this side of him – maybe it would make him stronger. So that he could gain more control over his abilities and get back to Lance – and never let a tragedy like this ever happen again.

Despite his growling stomach, his steps were fast as he continued to walk the stony path next to the cold river.


	11. Save me from myself

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance wakes up again, Pidge and Allura tell him what happened.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ...
> 
> I'm so freaking sorry it took me so long!!
> 
> I don't even have a really good excuse...at least not for the first two weeks...but then I got sick and I couldn't even lift myself to sit at my laptop and continue this story...
> 
> I won't have time for the rest of the week so I thought I'd be posting the chapter today... Hope you all like it...at least a bit cause I feel like this is all jumbled and mixed and urgh what even is English I thought I was good at it but then today came and I had been convinced otherwise.
> 
> Huff.
> 
> Even if this chapter is not as good as I'd like it to be, I'll still dedicate it to my lovely Kinga who inspired me to write this Fic with her startingly beautiful art. Wishing you a happy belated birthday (again)! This is kinda my present to you - okay well, the whole Fic could be regarded as a present to you and because I still don't know how to link your Tumblr profile up here I hope you read this and have a very beautiful day (or night, haha)! <3<3<3
> 
> It's getting late, folks, and I have to get up early tmrw. Soo, see ya!!
> 
> Also what did you all think of season 5? I have to say I really liked it. Season 6 should come out on June 15, sooo...I'm excited we have a date to look forward to.

Time was unimportant.

The world…was pain.

A black darkness of burning pain vibrating through his whole body, whimpers spilling from his lips as his mind woke up again but then there was this soft whisper of a quiet voice, a cool wash of an icy breeze that calmed him down, soothing the pain enough to slip back into unconsciousness.

This time, the darkness was welcoming. Calm…and cold.

And this time, it didn’t last very long.

Little by little, the black veil on his eyes softened, slowly disappearing and making place for a soft glow of sea deep blue and a hushed voice, soothing and calm, whispering words he couldn’t understand but did wonders to ease his mind.

It was okay if he just…drifted here…he would just stay here for a while, this color was so nice…and it was all so calm…

He was glad to be able to think again without pain clouding his head; even if his thoughts still didn’t do much to supply him with an answer about why he was here, floating through blue nothingness.

Maybe it has been hours, maybe only minutes while he was drifting through this beautiful blue, but he finally could open his eyes again without fearing the pain soaring through his limbs.

He blinked against the soft, yellow light around him, looking around but not quite daring to move, not trusting the absence of pain.

Above him, there was a ceiling that looked like it had seen better days, dark beams of wood, blackened with smoke, crossing his field of vision. His gaze wandered, taking in the small room he was laying in; other than his bed and a few chairs, there seemed to be nothing more in here.

Huh.

Those walls were a very nice shade of blue.

Slowly he blinked, his mind still foggy as he carefully tried to lift his right hand to look at it, marveling the absence of pain from the move and freezing as it came into his focus.

The fingers were littered with scars. Thick and thin lines, winding around each other like snakes, gnarly scar tissue covering the once soft and smooth skin.

It continued all the way up his forearm, white scars contrasting with the tan skin.

Lance started trembling. Did…did all of his body look like this now…? So…scarred and…ugly…?

He carefully reached up to feel his face, gingerly touching his cheek…it didn’t feel that much different but…he couldn’t be sure without a mirror.

He wasn’t aware of the two female voices quietly talking to each other, from the back of the room where they watched him; one of them resigned and young, the other a bit older, calm and close, it sounded like the voice that had guided him through the ocean deep blue. And helped him to wake up again.

But at the quiet sob that left his mouth, they stopped talking.

A face appeared in front of his eyes – framed by hazelnut colored hair, big, forest-green eyes glassy with tears and a wobbly smile.

“I’m so happy you’re okay again”, the girl whispered, extracting a shaking hand to take his own.

His right one.

The one with the many scars.

The Water witch flinched at the contact, looking at her with big eyes.

Then it came back to him.

This was his friend…he could trust her. Even with his new scars…even if he was…ugly now… She wouldn’t think that way of him.

_Right?_

“Pidge…”, he whispered, his voice rough from emotion and lack of use.

Her smile faltered, the tears in her eyes threatening to spill.

Lance couldn’t see her cry.

So, despite his own panicked thoughts, he grabbed her hand and squeezed it lightly, managing a small smile. “Hey…it’s okay, don’t cry.”

He wasn’t prepared as she looked away, squeezing her eyes shut then looking at him again as the tears freely run down her face and her bottom lip wobbled a little. “You just survived a Fire that could have burned you to death.” With rough movements, she scrubbed at her face to dry her tears. “I’m…I’m just happy that you survived.”

Lance swallowed and let go of her hand to open his arms for a hug. “No need to cry for me though. I’m alive and well.”

Pidge snorted a little and went to hug him but stopped in the last moment. “Uh, no offense, but I’d rather not hug you when you’re naked.”

“Huh?” Lifting a surprised brow, Lance quickly looked down on himself – only to see that he indeed was only covered with a light, white blanket that had slipped down to pool around his hips and he frowned, looking up again as another face came into his view.

This one he knew too.

Allura…? Yes, Allura was her name.

The Element witch’s blue-pink eyes looked worried and she had her hands slightly lifted to help him in case he should need any support.

Was he feeling weak? He didn’t know. His mind was foggy, yes, but he felt like he was able to sit up without needing another pair of hands…

Allura looked…tired. Tired and worn out, a few strands of white hair slipping out of her otherwise neat plait, her skin looked faint and ashen and there were dark shadows under her eyes that he didn’t remember seeing the first time they met.

It was a look that didn’t really fit her.

She looked like he had felt when he went back from healing Shiro…but…a powerful witch like Allura shouldn’t be able to wear herself out like this…she had a hecking lot more power than him.

Lance blinked as she came closer again.

“How do you feel?”, she quietly asked, withdrawing her hands again as she saw that he was able to sit on his own.

How did he feel?

He didn’t know.

Taking a deep breath, he bit his lip a little.

Even that part of his skin didn’t feel normal any more.

“I don’t know…At least the pain went away”, a small smile was offered to the older witch, but she didn’t return it, the worry in her eyes only growing.

“Otherwise?”, she pressed.

Lance sighed a little. “Tired…not really awake? I can’t really say it, Allura. But…” He looked down on himself again, flinching a little as he saw the scars running down his chest, his other arm…Even what he was able to see from his legs had not been spared.

Fuck.

At least they weren’t as thick and gnarly as on his right arm…

Okay, no, he couldn’t let them see that he was so upset about this…about all the scars. They were so happy that he was still alive…he could have been dead by now and all he worried about were the scars covering his body…

He swallowed, then looked at Allura again. “Why am I still naked?”

The Element witch drew back a little and cleared her throat. “Well…the injuries covered your whole body and to be able to heal you properly, I had to remove your clothes. It took me almost a day to heal you completely…it was…quite a task. I’ll bring you new clothes once I’m really sure that you’re okay again.”

Lance’s brows furrowed. “Why shouldn’t I-“

He interrupted himself as Allura came a bit closer again, her hands lifting to rest next to his temples and her eyes closing as a silvery blue started to glow next to his head.

“You’re awake, that’s a good sign – but I have to make sure I removed every residue of Fire and Demon magic out of your body, so it won’t cause you any more harm than it already did.”

Huh. Fire magic could still cause harm even after the hurt person was healed?

That was new to him.

Maybe he should talk to Keith about it.

An icy breath, feeling like the first gulp of Water after a long drought, washed through his limbs before he could follow that train of thoughts, erasing the last residues of tiredness and drowsiness and Lance exhaled slowly, white steam rising from his mouth as he closed his eyes and relaxed a little.

This felt amazing.

“Thank you.”

As he looked at the Element witch again, her gaze had darkened as she drew her hands back again as soon as she was finished, something akin to guilt flashing through her eyes.

“Don’t thank me too early.” She took a step back, clasping her hands into her colorful stained, white dress that now somehow had some more stains that…hadn’t been there before.

They looked like blood.

Maybe it even…was his own blood.

She looked away, not meeting his eyes.

“You may want to go into the ocean once Pidge told you what happened.” She paused. “I’m sorry that it had to go that way…but there was…” She stopped herself again before the words could come out, shaking her head slowly and taking a deep breath to steady herself.

“You have three days to regain your strength again and to come to terms with what happened in the forest. Then I will begin with your training. If you do not wish to proceed with our agreement anymore – which I could understand – you’re free to leave again.”

With that, she turned around and left the room with quick, long strides.

Lance watched her go and blinked in confusion. Why…she sounded so…so formal and stiff but at the same time it had almost looked like she was holding back tears…

What had he missed?

He knew there had been a big Fire which caused him to look like this now…he recognized burn scars when he saw them.

But…who had caused it?

He looked around in the room again, his brows furrowing as he finally felt the hollow ache in his chest…as if there was something missing inside of him.

Where…where was his… _where is Keith?_

His gaze lifted and met Pidge’s, who looked away after a few moments, scrubbing at her face again as tears welled up in her eyes again, her fists clenched in her shirt.

“Pidge…where is Keith?” His voice was quiet, it shook only slightly.

Blurry images wandered through his head, his memory obscured with pain, showing only blotches of what happened…what could have happened. He was not really sure if he could trust his memory.

Fire, heat all around him, someone screaming – maybe it was his own voice – and then a pair of purple glowing eyes, burning like the Fire all around him, a vicious, cold cackle of laughter before everything dissolved into murderous pain and nothingness.

A throbbing headache started to form between his temples and with a groan, he pressed his hands against them, hoping to ease some of the pain.

He couldn’t do anything to help himself; yes, he was a powerful Water witch, but his energy levels still were pretty low, the icy sea of magic inside his belly now feeling like a desert of dry ice, only doing more to hurt him further instead of soothing him.

He had to recharge…as soon as possible.

“Pidge.” His voice threatened to give up. “Where…where is Keith?”

A feeling slowly spread through his guts, an uneasy feeling that made him want to throw up, send his head spinning and the hollow burning of dry ice spread through all his limbs.

Because that feeling meant that Keith…had…

“He’s alive”, Pidge hurried to say finally.

She was shaking badly as she looked at him again, her fists twisted so deeply in her shirt that her knuckles were turning white. Her eyes were still glassy, and she didn’t wear her glasses any more, her mouth pressed into a firm line that made her look years older than only fifteen.

Gosh, she still was so young.

“He…the Fire he had caused was so bad that Allura had to conjure up a thunderstorm to put it out again; I was practically powerless since he had been destroying the source of my power. I…couldn’t do much more than just…watch.” She gulped.

“Allura defeated him and he lost consciousness…as he woke up, he was normal again but…he… as he saw what he had caused…what he had done to you…he left.” It was clear to see how shaken up she still was, judging by the breaks in her speech and how her voice just cracked on the last word.

She swallowed her tears, clutching her shirt once again in a white-knuckling grip to somehow calm herself down.

Silence followed her words, defeaning in his ears. The world seemed to stand still.

Lance looked at her with wide eyes, frozen in his spot.

No…

No, no, no, no…

“What…” He shook his head. “No, he can’t be…you’re kidding me. He has to be somewhere here still. He…he wouldn’t leave like this! No!”

He was aware that he sounded desperate but why would he give two shits about that when… when Pidge told him that the love of his life…the one who he was destined to be with until the end of days…was…gone? Just like that?

But as soon as he wanted to get up, to run out, to look for him, her hands stopped him.

“Wait! Lance, you still have no freaking clothes on and…and you’ve had burns from a Fire that would have killed you if Allura hadn’t been there to recue you! It’s still too damn early!” Her voice had become almost hysterically loud and she quickly lowered her tone as she realized that, sighing.

“Just…wait for a second until Allura comes back.”

She looked away and took a few steps back to put a bit of distance between them both.

He looked away but settled again, the thin blanket covering his lower body, trying to pretend he still had it together when the truth was that his brain was up in the sky, his thoughts roaring like there was a storm inside of his head.

Caught up in his mind like that and trying to will away the deafening pain between his temples, he didn’t realise the door opening again and Allura coming in with an armful of white and blue clothing.

Speaking softly to Pidge, she handed her the clothes and disappeared again with a last worried glance towards Lance.

He didn’t see any of it.

The Forest witch went back to his side again, nudging him softly.

He looked up, noticing what she held in her hands and slowly taking it from her with trembling hands, standing up and dressing himself in a prestine white shirt with sleeves barely falling down to his elbow, doing nothing to hide his faint scars of his healing training and the new ones – as well as ocean-blue pants.

Then he turned to Pidge again, his hands balling into fists. “Tell me where he is.”

The girl swallowed, no doubt intimidated by the ice that crept in his voice. “I…I don’t know, Lance. Really…after he saw what he did to you…he just…ran...” Shaking her head, she took a few steps into his direction, looking at him with desperate and pleading eyes.

“Please. He…he said he never wanted to hurt you like that and…you wouldn’t be safe with him.” She paused, her voice sinking into a whisper. “He doesn’t want you to search for him.”

_He doesn’t want you._

_He doesn’t want you._

_He doesn’t want you._

The Forest witch flinched back again as Lance’s eyes narrowed, starting to glow a warning icy blue. Despite his low energy levels, ice started to coat his fingertips, the feeling of dry ice burning through his chest getting stronger until it felt like Fire.

Fire that was suffocating him from inside.

“Quit telling me that bullshit. Where. Is. He.” His voice was straight up ice by now and he knew that he probably hurt her by doing so but right now he didn’t care.

He knew she wasn’t telling him the truth…She had to be lying. There was no other possibility… Keith…he wouldn’t leave him like this…

_Would he?_

“Lance, I don’t know! Please believe me!” Her eyes started to glow too.

He growled and raised his hand with the icy claws, his anger and desperation boiling over – but before the claws could touch Pidge, there was suddenly a vine, winding around his wrist and holding him in a vice grip, another gripping his other hand and preventing him from moving another inch.

His eyes shot daggers of burning ice at her, but she didn’t back away, the vibrant green of her magic glowing in the sudden darkness of the room.

“No. You listen to me right now.” Her tone was desperate and her teeth clenched, but she stood steady and refused to let him go as she started to tell what exactly had happened between her and Keith after he had woken, what he had told her and what he said she should tell Lance if he survived – unknowing of the burden he passed onto her shoulders.

By the time she was finished, Lance was frozen in shock.

She had told everything so exactly, said everything so that he had no other choice than to believe her.

“Ask Allura if you don’t believe me.” Her voice was quiet, resigned, the green glow of her eyes dulling again as she saw the expression of shock, of utter disbelief on Lance’s face.

He couldn’t answer her.

Everything inside of him screamed at him to just deny what she had said, that it all was wrong, that Keith still had to be here somewhere, but…the ache in his chest…that hollow feeling that something was missing…

It told him that Pidge had been right.

Thoughts were chasing each other around in his head and he was powerless, couldn’t move even as Pidge finally let him go again, watching him carefully.

He flinched as thunder growled out in the open, snapping him out of his stupor and as he looked out of the window, he saw the storm raging outside.

Rain was pouring heavily, the sound of waves crashing on the cliff echoed over the plateau and bright lightning parted the sky in a flash.

Heaven had opened his gates but this looked like a storm straight out of Hell.

The sea was calling for him, so he did the only thing that to him seemed like it would ease the raging disaster in his mind – throwing his body in an even bigger disaster.

Because with that he could deal.

His mind was another piece of paper.

The chaos inside his head…his thoughts that were screaming for Keith, screaming for him to come back, to just not leave him like this…to help him…but it was no use, he knew Keith would never hear him.

So, he ignored Pidge’s desperate cries as he ran out of the house, his veins starting to glow as soon as the rain hit him and mingled with his own tears.

Blind with tears and glowing on almost his whole body, he reached the cliff and threw himself into the water with a cry of pain that echoed over the whole plateau and could still be heard through the raging of the storm.

 

“Are all young witches so…so uncaring of their lives? Running out in a storm like that only to jump from the cliff down into the ocean? That’s been two hundred feet, Lance…You’re lucky the storm couldn’t harm you…you’re lucky the sea has caught you and saved you from drowning…” The female voice paused and sighed softly.

“I should have seen this. I’m sorry I was so cruel towards him…but…I couldn’t let him stay here. I’m sorry.”

“I wouldn’t have done this if I knew I would die, Allura.” The male voice was quiet, almost bare of any emotion, blue eyes staring up into the slowly darkening sky. A few hours had passed since the storm raged over the cliffs and the small house but now the sky was clear, the first stars starting to twinkle.

Another sigh.

“Then why…”

“I can’t deal with chaos inside my mind. The storm was a chaos outside of my thoughts, I…knew the Water would not harm me.” A small pause. “I can deal with this chaos.”

Then, barely above a whisper:

“I wonder if he’ll ever come back to me.”


	12. Until we meet again

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance starts his training. Allura tells him about her family.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I already wanted to post yesterday, but...Archive went down so had to wait until today.  
> Gonna keep it short cause...who even reads my notes, haha.
> 
> Enjoy chapter 13, ma dudes!
> 
> (oh lol I should have posted it tomorrow - chapter 13 on March 13, haha)

Lance didn’t run away.

Even if he wanted to.

Even if every fiber of his being screamed at him to go, to search for Keith, to somehow get him back, if only so that the hollow aching in his chest would stop…he didn’t listen.

He stayed and tried to put his heart back together, tried to regain his strength again after it felt like everything he was and had been was shattered because Keith simply wasn’t here anymore, he left, left Lance behind, left him alone.

He was sad, yes, but…the Water witch wasn’t angry at him for hurting him like this.

Okay, no, that wasn’t true…He was angry, very angry even; angry and sad and heartbroken and insecure…but that didn’t mean he didn’t want to have Keith back. He wanted to yell at him for doing such a stupid thing, for letting his…non-human side taking control and for destroying the forest and robbing Pidge of the source of her magic…he wanted to yell at him for being such a coward, for leaving, for not staying and confronting his problems.

Then he wanted to punch him. As hard as he could. Make him feel what his absence had done to Lance.

And then he wanted to kiss him. With all the desperation, anger and love that boiled inside of him because he still loved Keith, no matter what the other had done to him.

He desperately hoped the other one would come back so he could do all these things…and so that they could finally be close again.

Lance already missed him.

His fist clenched around the bowl of Water he held in his hands and he didn’t even realize it until Allura’s fingers softly touched his hand, making him look up and blink at her in question.

“Lance? Are you okay?”

He hesitated a bit, having been so lost in thoughts that he forgot his surroundings. Looking at Allura’s questioning face, he had to remind himself that he was in her house, that they were sitting in the seemingly biggest room of said house.

“Huh? Yeah, I’m alright, just…thinking.”

Allura’s gaze softened and with a sigh, she looked down on the book she was reading. She already knew who he was thinking about…Because it had been the same for the past three days.

“Try to not think about him. I know it’s difficult, but…please try to concentrate.” She paused, biting her lip as she threw another look at him. “You almost got it; we’ll go to the beach once you’re done.”

He huffed and looked down on the bowl again, pouting as the Water inside still rippled with every slight tremor of his hands.

The training had started this morning, three days after Keith was gone. Allura first wanted him to show her how advanced he already was, considering he had already been a Water witch for about a year. So, her first task for him had been to turn the Water inside of this bowl into ice.

He was working on that for the last two hours.

It was frustrating…and he didn’t know what he even was doing wrong! Normally, a task like this shouldn’t be a problem for him, he knew how to freeze liquids with a touch of his fingers, but now…nothing.

Just disappointing and frustrating ripples of clear Water, unbothered by his tries to turn it into ice.

After a few more minutes of silence between teacher and student, he leaned back with a groan. “It’s not working, I don’t know why I’m even trying!”

He was close to throwing the bowl away to the other side of the room but Allura’s sharp eyes stopped him.

She sighed and put her book away.

“Okay, maybe this has been the wrong way to start. But…you said you’re able to control Water out of your body to some extent?”

“I can protect myself from getting soaked in a thunderstorm if I want to but that’s about it. It takes up a lot of concentration. Most of the time.” He looked away. Not really much to start at.

It really was pathetic if you compare it to the other things he was capable of.

Allura hummed, watching him with a thoughtful expression. Then she nodded and stood up. “Come with me. We’re taking this down to the beach, you’re gonna feel better once you’re inside of the ocean. There I’ll also be able to show you a lot of things a little bit better.”

She left the room and Lance looked after her, blinking a bit but he quickly regained himself and followed her, the bowl of Water forgotten on the nightstand.

A few minutes later, both witches were leaving the house, Allura clad in a short, white dress that left her arms bare and showed the pinkish markings on her shoulders – they even went further down her arms –, her silvery-white hair neatly put up in a bun.

Lance followed her, only wearing plain blue shorts, his arms slung around his bare torso. He felt a bit self-conscious, his scars being on display like that, but Allura had been able to convince him to ditch his shirt, saying she wouldn’t give him another one if he ruined that one and besides, it was way more comfortable that way once they were inside the Water.

Outside, Pidge was sitting on a bench in front of the house, quietly playing with Blue and Green, the two cats excitedly running around each other and sometimes jumping over Pidge’s lap, chasing after the small vines she swirled around and in between them, flinching whenever one of them touched their bodies and batting at them half a second later, making the girl giggle softly.

A cool breeze whispered through the air, comfortingly ruffling through Lance’s chestnut colored hair and carrying the scent of salt, Water and ocean. It wasn’t much but it helped to lift his mood a little.

Allura smiled as the Forest witch looked up at them, turning to Lance as he stopped and watched Blue for a few seconds.

He was so glad his small cat was alive like he himself…

Allura apparently had done a really good job at healing them both.

Blue’s small body seemed to lack a lot of her blueish-gray fur, rosy patches of skin running over her sides – from what he could see when she was jumping around like that. But she seemed to be okay…and that was the main thing.

They were alive and well.

That was more than he could have wished for when he had been floating through darkness and pain.

The moment his soul-animal sensed his presence, she turned her head towards him and she _screeched_ , a high-pitched sound that made all of them wince a bit, and she jumped over Green and straight into his arms, making him stumble back a bit as he laughed and caught her quickly.

“Oh, my girl…my wonderful Blue…I’m so happy you’re okay”, he whispered as he held her close, a smile appearing on his lips as Blue didn’t stop with her purring for even one second, snuggling into him, pressing her head under his jaw, wriggling in his grip and making him laugh again at the same time as tears welled up in his eyes.

“Gosh, I’m so…happy…at least…you’re not gone too…” He swallowed, trying his best to not start bawling.

His chest burned, and he really wanted to cry because his baby girl was okay…she made it out of the Fire alive…

No matter his feelings towards Keith…He would have killed him if Blue hadn’t survived.

Or at least vowed to do so if he ever saw the Fire witch again.

Blue’s purring eased a little bit as she sensed what he was thinking about and she gave a soft lick to his cheek, snuggling into him and meowing softly in a way that sounded like _‘I won’t ever leave you’_.

And that was so calming to know.

That at least Blue would be staying at his side…when everyone else left him behind…

If Allura or Pidge saw the few tears that ran down Lance’s cheeks to disappear into Blue’s scarred fur…They didn’t mention it, only watching him with soft smiles on their faces.

 

“Okay, now lay your hands on the Water, palms facing downwards.”

He nodded and did just that, looking at Allura for further instructions. Like himself, she was standing waist-deep in the ocean, her hands on the Water mimicking his own position, her eyes on him to watch how he was doing, her expression at ease but demanding for his attention.

“Now close your eyes. Concentrate and try to feel the Water all around you.”

 _Quite good instructions_ , he thought sarcastically but did what she told him. With a deep breath, he tried to extend his senses, concentrating on the wonderful coldness on his legs and palms where the Water touched him.

But that was the only thing he felt…

Which probably meant it did not work – so he opened his eyes again, looking at Allura with a frown as she looked at him in question.

“How do I do it? I can’t really tell if it’s working or not. What do you even mean by…feeling the ocean?”

The Element witch was silent for a few seconds, trying to think of a way to explain it to him. Her markings were glowing softly in the morning sun.

“Think of your magic, the power inside of yourself, think of it as something…as something that has sensors. Feelers. Some kind of tentacles.” She laughed at the face Lance was pulling.

But honestly…tentacles??

Lance did not think that was a good image to have…he was quite in tune with his magic and liked the way it felt like a deep, calm sea in his belly.

But maybe, just maybe, he had to rethink that again, now that he was using his magic in ways he never did before.

“It helps, stop looking at me like that! Try to imagine it as if your magic stretches out its feelers, as if it slowly spreads out through your whole body until you can feel the power under your skin.”

_Well, if she says it helps…_

Giving her a last skeptical glance, Lance sighed and closed his eyes again, taking another deep breath and feeling for the power inside of his belly.

It responded to his touch as he carefully pulled at it, trying to make out sensors, or anything tentacle-like like Allura had told him to.

For a few seconds, there was nothing.

But suddenly…there was something unfurling inside of him, emerging from that sea of ice.

No, it wasn’t really unfurling…

The icy power inside of him started to spread out through his limbs, but it didn’t feel like it had when he healed Keith and Shiro…

Now that he actually had the time and concentration to pay attention to it, he felt the magic like thousands of small, magical sensors, feelers of ice, only as thick as a hair or two, floating through his limbs, searching until they were connecting with his nerve endings, making him gasp as the magic thrummed through his body, making his skin tingle with power and sensation and suddenly, he could _feel._

Another gasp left his lips as he realized what he was feeling.

Everywhere around him was Water.

He was Water.

His mind was overwhelmed by all-consuming blue, stretching out for miles and miles before him, fuzzing out behind him because there was the beach…but before him…

Was this what he already should have felt in the beginning? After he had revealed his powers? If only he knew about this place after he had to leave home…

Something moved in front of him and then a figure was walking towards him, the shape a tad darker than the blue surrounding it. He was surprised that he could see them – or her, he knew it was Allura…but he had his eyes closed.

So, it was more like…not really seeing her but feeling where the Water touched the contours of her body, so he knew where she was.

He felt a touch against his shoulder, barely noticeable against the feeling of magic making his every nerve tingling with power, against the feeling of ice water running through his veins – but he still noticed it and as he opened his eyes, Allura was standing in front of him.

She smiled, slowly lifting his left hand from the water surface and drawing a circle on his palm.

Lance shuddered at the flash of white energy that suddenly passed through him and as he blinked again, the icy feelers of his magic had retracted from some of his nerves, making him aware of his surroundings again.

The thrumming of magic through his veins, which had enhanced his heartbeat to the point where it felt like drums pounding in his ears, slowly eased down until he heard the murmur of the ocean again.

He still could feel the great amounts of Water all around them, could even see it glowing through Allura’s body and probably his own if he looked down on himself, but he could concentrate on other things again than bright, all-consuming ocean blue.

“What did you do?”, he asked slowly as his eyes found Allura’s, his wide and full of incredulous awe, hers amazed and slightly narrowed from her smile. “What happened?”

“I only took some of the effects away, so we could still talk with each other.” Her smile got bigger. “And what happened…you felt the ocean.”

“How?”

“You connected your magic to your nerves, I think that’s the best way of explaining it – and like this, you’re easily able to feel your Element and to magically gain access to it and use it. Even if you’re not surrounded by it like you are right now, but I figured it’s a good place to start your training here.” She paused. “Even more so because this is the first time you’re surrounded by so much Water.”

He nodded slowly, trying to comprehend her words. Then, he looked behind her, watching the waves calmly roll to the beach. His gaze dropped down to his hands, he gasped a bit as he saw the icy blue glowing veins, coating his skin like a cobweb of ice and completely distracting him from the burn scars that covered his skin in almost the same way.

Allura watched him think for a few seconds.

“Come, we’re going back in more shallow waters. Looks like you’re ready for the first exercises.” She walked past him, and Lance sighed but still followed her. Looks like this would be the start of a long day.

 

The sun was high above them and a few hours must have passed as Allura finally decided to give him a break. Being surrounded by his Element meant that he could not use his excuse of draining himself and needing a recharge – besides, he didn’t use his magic the way he had until now.

Still, a hollow exhaustion settled in his limbs as the sun burned down on him and after about four hours of moving Water around, pushing, pulling, holding it in a certain shape as long as he was able to and during all that maintaining the connection of his magic onto his whole nerve system – he really had a right to be exhausted.

Flopping down into the yellow-white sand, he groaned, spreading out like a starfish. Blue who had been resting nearby and watching them both, playing with some pebbles from time to time, walked over towards him and curled up on his chest with a happy purr, wiggling around a little until she was comfortable.

Allura merely snorted with a smile on her face as she sat down next to him.

“You did good so far”, she told him. “I really have to say I’m impressed: you managed to connect to the Water as soon as I gave you the right push – I’m proud.”

Despite his exhaustion, her words made him smile as he reached up to softly scratch over Blue’s head with his right hand, his eyes closed against the sun. “Thank you.”

“I know those first exercises may seem boring – I think they certainly are but they’re necessary. It’s onlay your first day of training, we’ll be getting to the fun stuff once you’ve mastered the basics.”

Lance nodded only, sighing as the warmth of the sun-heated sand seeped through his skin.

It wasn’t enough to sooth the chill deep in his bones…but it was at least something.

The hollow feeling once again spread through his chest and he tried to not think about the person who had caused this.   

For a few more moments, there was silence between the two witches.

After he didn’t hear another word from Allura for the next few minutes, Lance opened his eyes again and looked over at her. She seemed to be miles away with her thoughts, her left hand – the one with the scars – cradled in her lap as she looked at it with a lost look in her eyes.

His brows furrowed.

He thought about speaking out to her about continuing his training, but…he still felt like every muscle would scream at him in protest if he only tried to sit up and…he saw pain in her eyes. Deep pain from wounds that never had the chance to heal even if a long time already had passed and it was so unusual to see her this vulnerable that Lance had to swallow.

It had to do something with the scars on her hand…with the events how she got them.

“Allura?” His tone was soft, the atmosphere around them shifting.

However, she still flinched a bit, looking at him with slightly widened eyes. “Yeah?” Her voice wavered a bit, causing Lance’s frown to deepen.

“I’m sorry if you’re uncomfortable speaking about that matter, but…where did you get these scars?” He nodded his chin towards her hand.

She turned her gaze away. “Oh, that…” Hesitating a bit, she bit her lip, obviously debating on how much she wanted to tell him.

As the silence stretched on for too long, Lance cleared his throat, his tone unsure. “You…don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to…they’re obviously connected to a quite painful memory, I’m sorry if I revived it again.”

She shook her head slowly. “No, I’ve been thinking about what has happened that day…I think if you’re going to live with me for the in the near future, you deserve to know why…why I hate demons this much.” She paused. “It’s also the reason I got these.” Briefly, she lifted her hand, the scars white on her caramel skin.

Lance sat up, now frowning as he held Blue close and watched her with an attentive gaze, his pain forgotten.

Allura took a deep breath and straightened herself a bit, looking into her lap, her hands folded as she started to talk in a quiet voice.

“I lost my family in a…during an ambush. My father had once been friends with the heir of the demon race, Zarkon, they had been closer than brothers – until Zarkon became the next Emperor of Hell, the place where demons are living. It made him turn his back on my father, he denied ever having any connection with him. He got everything he ever wanted and to this day I’m not sure what turned Zarkon into…what made him turn evil so quickly.” She paused, her eyes and voice hardening. “But I guess he’s already been that from the beginning...Alfor, my father, should never have trusted him. He shouldn’t have been this gullible.” Her fingers clenched into fists before dropping to play with the seam of her short dress as it slowly dried in the sun, as if she wanted to hide their shaking.

She breathed deeply again to calm herself down a little.

“At that time, my family had been the most powerful witch clan to ever exist…it had been me, my sister, my brother, my parents and my three aunts, my mother’s sisters. Every woman in our circle was endowed with at least one magical power, mostly it had even been more than that.” Another pause. “I don’t really know how…maybe I’ve caught the eye of one of the Element deities and they decided to shower me in blessings…” She snorted briefly.

“Because not only am I able to control all five Elements, but I can also see into the future and I’m able to sense non-human beings, mostly by the way they use their magical abilities. If they have any.” She didn’t sound very proud of everything she was able to.

“But none of that helped me the day they came…because I still was a kid and even though I already had started to train, I barely was able to get one of the Elements to obey my will.” She paused again. “My other abilities…only revealed years later.

“Zarkon knew he was about to fight the most powerful witches of the country so he came with an army…an army of magically gifted demons. He wanted to get rid of my father…but he knew he had to erase his entire family to avoid us seeking revenge.” She swallowed, her hand clenching into a fist.

“Unlike Element magic, Demon magic is pure destruction. Twisted energy which is able to drain a witch from her power in seconds.” Cold hatred sparked in her voice. “These…these beasts burned down our house with demonic Fire, blocked our escape, we fought against them as long as we could – but eventually, we all drained… something practically sucked our powers out of us and…my mother was the first one that fell. My sister and my aunts followed, all of them magically drained… My brother, my father and me were the last ones standing.

“We found a way out of our house and fought against them with all we had. One of those beasts came too close to me and almost succeeded in clawing of my entire hand…but I was able to kill him before that could happen. We fought and fought, killing demon after demon, then my brother fell as a sword pierced through him…and I saw how my father started to slow down, his injuries draining him from his energy…There was no way we would be able to win this, I saw it in his eyes. He yelled at me to run, to just get away that at least there would be one of the Altean witches to survive…” She swallowed again.

“I didn’t want to at first because I didn’t want to leave him behind, but…as the army thinned out and I felt my powers starting to decline, I ran… I don’t know how, but they didn’t come after me…I only looked back once. And I wish I hadn’t done it…I saw my father die with a sword in his chest. It hit me like a hammer and I had to force myself to not stand still, to run, to get away…which I somehow did. But to this day…I don’t know how.” She swallowed.

“That whole thing has been almost fourty years ago. I’m almost fifty now.”

A last pause.

“I’ve thought about confronting Zarkon…I really did…But there’s no way I’ll be able to enter the realms of Hell unless I die. And that’s something I do not plan on doing.”

Silence hung on the beach for a few minutes after her last sentence.

Lance tried to process what she had told him, trying to say something to convey his feelings, but he felt like he was under shock. He couldn’t move.

Allura had lost her whole family.

They all had been killed…or died…in front of her eyes – it couldn’t even be called a fight, it was a slaughter arranged by the ruler of the demon race.

The Water witch wanted to throw up – this was…next level disgusting. And horrifying.

But he didn’t dare to do so in front of Allura, so he bit his lip, looking down on Blue in his lap, feeling helpless.

Maybe she could help him, somehow comforting the Element witch like he wanted to right now but simply just…couldn’t?

His cat once again understood him perfectly, meowing softly and wiggling out of his grip, walking over to Allura and softly pressing against her side, purring gently.

The Element witch smiled a little at her and picked her up with a side glance at Lance, placing her in her lap and scratching her softly. Blue pressed against her stomach in a comforting manner, meowing softly and leaning into Allura’s touches, looking up at her with icy blue eyes.

“I’m so sorry you had to go through all that.” Lance’s voice was as gently as the soft waves that lapped at the beach. “I had no idea…”

She looked at him with a small smile, a tear glistening on her cheek, but she quickly reached up to wipe it away. “I won’t say it’s okay because it isn’t…but it’s better than all those years ago. I still miss them…and it’s something I will never be able to forget. Or forgive.” She paused and looked down on Blue, still curled up against her.

“I’m surprised, though…why did she come to me? Isn’t she supposed to always stay with you?”

A small chuckle escaped him. “No, it’s…uh…I wanted to help you, but I didn’t know how to comfort you, so she took over…It’s like she can read my thoughts.” He huffed. “Besides, she’s way better at calming people down than I am.”

Allura snorted again but there was no bite in her voice as they both looked down on the blue-grayish cat in her lap, the waves gently rolling from the open sea onto the beach.

Lance thought that her hate against the demon race was more than justified…okay, no, it was her hatred against Zarkon that was justified with what he had done to her family. It did not make it okay for her to be…so harsh against Keith like she had been before the day literally went to hell…

Who knows, maybe there were also…good demons?

But he wouldn’t talk about that with Allura right now.

She had calmed down a bit with Blue in her lap and she looked relaxed, her eyes still holding a memory of the pain she went through but otherwise her gaze was calm.

Lance decided to speak to her once the day was over and they were back at her house.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Scream at me in the comments if you have questions!


	13. A new friend

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keith meets his mother again and finds a new companion that will help him if he overuses his magic again - Red.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so very sorry...  
> I had wanted to post last week already - but then uni started again and i got sick and family meetings and concerts...and lack of motivation...  
> I really hope there are still people who read this.
> 
> If yes, kudos and comments would be greatly appreciated!
> 
> No joke, i literally live of those.
> 
> Enjoy some Keith, ladies n gentlemen!
> 
> (i only edited this once. So i'm very sorry if some sentences - or this whole thing - is a mess. It reflects how i feel rn, haha.)

Keith saw his mother in his dreams again, every night that followed the first where she surprised him in that desert cave.

He never knew where he would meet her again, the sceneries in his dreams always changing, it was always some kind of adventure where he would arrive next.

They got along, somehow…but Keith still didn’t know what had forced her to leave him behind.

He didn’t really believe what she told him about humans taking him away from her…there had to be more behind that. Another motive. Not that was brave enough to ask…even though he wanted to know it so desperately. He…needed to know more about his past.

One day he would be brave enough to ask her.

But…until then he would just try to…get to know her somehow.

At his asking if she had a name…she told him to call her Krolia, if he wasn’t comfortable enough with calling her…mum.

 

This evening, about seven days after he had left Allura’s property, he fell asleep early, shuddering and curled up into a ball after he had collapsed under yet another tree, shivering because he was so cold.

And it was no refreshing coldness like when Lance’s magic touched him, no – this was the stale and bone-deep coldness of death. The absence of life.

It hurt him.

His powers were still new to him, so frustratingly new, and he didn’t know what to do when he had used so much of it that the Flame in his chest was barely flickering any more. No matter how much he concentrated, he couldn’t seem to bring himself to get a flicker of warmth through his limbs.

He really was surprised that it still had worked a few days ago…

But now, there was nothing left inside of him. He needed to recharge his powers somehow or he would literally burn out…not that this was easy, being surrounded by a forest and all that.

And not that he knew anything about…recharging his Fire powers.

Curling further into himself, Keith forced himself to think, trying to block out the aching in his limbs and somehow trying to string together a coherent thought.

Maybe his mother could help him…

With that thought, his consciousness slipped away.

 

_Krolia was already waiting for him, sitting on a rock in the setting of a beautiful jungle, a waterfall not far away from her, its sounds and the whispering of a breeze through the bright green leaves of the trees filling the air._

_Those were the only sounds._

_There were no animals around here._

_But not that Keith could have been able to pay attention to that; as soon as the landscape of the jungle had formed around him, and his mother turned around to greet him, he felt his legs buckle and he crumbled to the ground, huffing painfully._

_Huh._

_So, the pain even extended into his dreams?_

_Not cool._

_He heard his mother call out his name and shadows were falling over his eyes, darkening the red tint behind his eyelids._

_He was so cold…_

_“Keith! What’s happening…are you okay??”_

_He managed to shake his head and slowly blinked up at her, her face worried, her hands hovering to help him up and her large wings fanned out behind her, half enveloping them in a fluffly cocoon of shadows._

_“C-cold”, he pressed out, trying to sit up._

_Krolia’s hands immediately held him, helping him up – and that was probably when he realized how warm they were._

_How warm she was._

_How suddenly flames started to flicker around her fingertips, glowing purple for a few seconds before they extended to his body, changing into a golden glowing red and making him gasp at the heat that suddenly sank into his veins, all but erasing the coldness of looming death and filling him with glorious warmth and the soothing promise of an open fire._

_The Flame in his chest flickered to life again, burning brighter and brighter._

_He sighed contently, almost a little drunk at how the regeneration of his powers made him feel, leaning into Krolia’s hold as she looked down on him a bit startled._

_Then a knowing smile appeared on her features and she pulled him closer, directing his head so it was tucked under her chin._

_Keith let her._

_“You used too much of your Fire, am I right?”_

_Keith nodded a bit, but stayed silent, focused on soaking up the heat of the flames that now erupted on Krolia’s whole body and transferred over onto his skin where they kept flickering for a few minutes before disappearing and leaving his skin in a fiery golden glow._

_Which made him remember the only other situation where his skin had literally erupted in golden flames…_

_He heard a small chuckle from above him, pulling him out of his thoughts and as he managed to peer up at her with one eye, she looked down on him with a fascinated smile, still holding him as if she sensed that he didn’t want to let go just now._

_Huh._

_Where did his…not-trusting-her-until-he-knew-more-about-his-past mentality go?_

_“I didn’t think that this simple contact would be enough to ignite the Flame in you again, but it seems like it was.” She paused. “But I’m not sure if that will still be the case when you wake up again. You seem to be okay again, but I don’t know how long this will hold.”_

_A sigh escaped her lips._

_“This had to be going on for longer now…I’m wondering how this didn’t happen the first time I met you.”_

_Keith looked away and stayed silent, not answering her because how could he if he didn’t even have an answer himself._

_She let it go after a few seconds, contenting herself with holding him close until he would speak again._

_Silence is spreading, until Keith asks what he’s been wanting to ask since the beginning of this dream._

_“How…do you regenerate yourself when you…use too much of your power?” Apparently, speaking was still a bit difficult._

_He coughed once, biting his lip as he carefully looked up into her purple face._

_“I-I mean…if I’ve inherited these Fire powers from you…you must have some kind of way to…well, recharge them again.”_

_It was difficult to find the right words. But it didn’t matter to Krolia, she seemed to know what he meant._

_Her face twisted thoughtfully. “Hmm, it’s different for magically gifted demons than it is for humans. Or for normal witches._

_In Hell, there are normally enough ways to regenerate myself since there are quite a few volcanoes and thanks to my powers, I’m flame resistant, so I can submerge myself in lava like under water and surface again after a few hours, unharmed and my Flame powerful as ever. But I guess it’s a bit different here on Earth.”_

_She hummed, grinning at Keith’s shocked expression._

_The Fire witch shuddered at the thought of ever doing something like that; he had been given control over the Element Fire, yes, but it wasn’t like he was tired of life and would jump straight into a volcan._

_Hell, no._

_Besides, he was only half demon._

_Who said he wouldn’t burn to ashes if he ever did that??_

_“I don’t know how Fire witches who aren’t of demonic origin regenerate their powers…but there’s a thing I can do for you, though”, she finally continued, her purple eyes narrowing in thought as she studied his face for a few seconds. “How are you doing, can you stand up?”_

_Keith blinked but nodded and retreated from her touch, standing up on slightly wobbly legs and watching her with slightly narrowed eyes._

_What was she up to?_

_Krolia smiled up at him briefly then closed her eyes again, starting to mumble words in a language that sent a shiver down Keith’s spine. She put her hands into her lap again, like she would be protecting something, a slight purple glow surrounding them, but there was nothing-_

_No, wait, there was something in her lap, suddenly appearing out of the nothing._

_Keith blinked in surprise, taking a small step back. At first sight, it looked like a cat, then…what was that? A_ dragon _?_

_Krolias wings feathered out again for a few seconds before they were tucked on her back again._

_Could she even fly with them?_

_The Fire witch shook of that thought and tried to concentrate on that small thing in his mother’s lap again._

_“What…what’s that?”, he asked with furrowed brows as Krolia opened her glowing eyes again. The creature looked small, but that didn’t mean it wasn’t dangerous…_

_Right?_

_But on the other hand…why would she summon a dangerous creature in his dreams?_

_“That’s a shape-shifting creature. I don’t know which is her original form, I found her near my home as she was a small cat and she was pretty severely wounded.” Her face darkened a little, she sighed. “She was close to dying, I had to give her a part of my energy to bring her back to life again.”_

_Very softly, her claws scratched through the velvety, jet-black fur, the small thing on her legs purring at the attention and uncurling a little. “I’m quite sure it’s a girl. Or at least she prefers to be referred to as a female.”_

_Keith nodded slowly and dared to take a step closer again, his curiosity winning over his scepsis._

_His mother looked up at him._

_“Witches apparently need someone by their side who helps them dealing with whatever they can’t do alone. Now, it isn’t quite the same with demons…but I’ve noticed that those little creatures here do help a lot with regenerating demon magic – at least for those who have troubles to do it the way I do it, for example.” She hesitated at Keith’s look of confusion._

_“It’s like…a give and take. Once you bond with a shape-shifter, they provide you with everything you ask of them – and in turn, you provide them with everything they need to survive. Which is not very much.”_

_Keith was hesitant for a few seconds, slowly sinking on his knees next to Krolia and watching the small thing that was still curled up against her stomach._

_Suddenly, the small head looked up and bright, amber-golden eyes with slitted pupils locked with Keith’s purple ones, jet-black ears flattening against the skull but otherwise, the creature – or cat – didn’t move._

_Keith didn’t dare to move either. He just stared at the small creature as it watched him with cautious eyes._

_And this…thing…should be able to help him in case he would overwork himself again?_

_Hm._

_He may have a few doubts at that._

_It – or well, if what Krolia had said about her being a female had been right – she was so little…_

_His mother must have sensed his skepticism, because she smiled as he looked up at her again. “Take her.” Her hands lifted the creature of her lap and gave it to Keith who did not dare to move as his eyes went wide and his mother set the cat in his lap. He didn’t even know himself why he suddenly felt so afraid._

_She sighed. “Calm down, Keith, she won’t bite you.”_

_The look she got from her son told her clearly that he didn’t believe her, but he relaxed a bit. Or tried to at least._

_Amber eyes narrowed as they looked up at Keith again and he heard a small hissing sound, the little mouth opening to bare needle-sharp fangs as her whole body tensed again._

_Which made Keith tense up too – but then he blinked, surprised._

_Did that…cat…just say something?_

_Or…was that only in his mind?_

_Did she speak to him??_

_Oh holy Element deities…_

_His brows furrowed, he slowly reached out to gently touch the jet-black fur. It was incredibly soft under his fingers, muscles moving restlessly but locking every few moments as if the creature wanted to jump out of his grasp but didn’t dare to and Keith suddenly realized that it wasn’t because she was angry or was about to attack them – she was scared to death._

_Scared that he would harm her in any way._

_The thought made him swallow and he retreated his hand._

_Because he knew that he was capable of doing very much harm to such a little creature._

_Didn’t mean that he wanted it._

_“I’m not gonna hurt you”, he softly said, relaxing his body and fixing the stare of those amber-golden eyes again._

_Her small body relaxed partly, but she still looked up at him with bared teeth. Her fur shifted, deepest black making place for fiery-golden red until a small red cat was sitting in his lap._

_She was stunning, looking up at him with golden eyes._

_Keith was stunned, blinking slowly as a smile found a way on his lips. “Wow…that’s beautiful.”_

_“I guess that’s her real fur color”, Krolia mused, her voice quiet. “Probably she just turned black to hide from enemies.”_

_Keith barely heard her, too focused on how the cat’s facial expression relaxed too after a few seconds and she shifted a little to press herself against his tummy, making him gasp as she released a quiet purr that resonated in his mind._

_What was happening?_

_It felt like she spoke to him again…_

_His eyes went wide as warmth started to radiate from her body, seeping into his skin and further soothing his burn-out aches._

_Okay, that apparently was what his mother had been talking about…how creatures like her could help a demon regenerate his magic again…_

_It felt different to when Krolia had been helping him, not as intense – but that was probably because he already had almost all his power back…he didn’t need much more._

_Still, it felt wonderful._

_Without really realizing it, his eyes slipped close again and he just bathed in the soothing warmth the cat-creature provided him with, curiously reaching out to whatever was touching his mind…_

_Suddenly, the source of warmth shifted, grew bigger and seemed to crawl up his arm…_

_He felt claws on his skin – there hadn’t been much left of his shirt after the cursed Fire –, pricking him slightly._

_Huh?_

_He opened his eyes again – only to flinch as he saw that the small, red cat had turned into a fiery golden dragon which was currently climbing up his arm. It settled on his shoulders, curling around his neck and tucking its head under Keith’s chin, warm, leathery wings tucked onto its back and softly touching the back of his neck._

_“Wow…” A smile spread over his lips and he reached out to softly touch the dragon’s head, a small purr vibrating against his neck._

_He briefly looked at his mother again. “She…she is beautiful.”_

_Krolia smiled, leaning back a little and watching them both, her pupilless eyes glowing softly. “Indeed. Do you want to name her?”_

_“I don’t know…I mean yes, I want to, but I don’t know which name would fit her.” Keith’s eyebrows furrowed a bit as he carefully caressed the dragon’s scales on its head._

_It was brighter than the rest of its – her – body, glimmering in a warm orange-gold that morphed first into a vivid, intense ruby red on her back before the scales darkened into an almost black claret on her tail, bathing her in every shade of Fire Keith knew._

_“I think…” He hesitated as he watched the small dragon move slightly, letting her tail drag a little over his collarbone. A smile appeared on his lips as an idea formed in his mind._

_“I think I’m going to call you Red.”_

_Krolia wasn’t that impressed by his choice…but Red seemed to like her new name._

_Before she sent him away again, his mother assured him that Red would be by his side once he woke up again – he had made a companion for life now._

_“And…will I ever see you when I’m not asleep? Will I ever meet you outside of my dreams?” He looked up at her with big eyes, afraid of what the answer might be – because even if it was nice to at least see her when he was asleep…he desperately wanted it to…not just all be in his dreams._

_He still wanted to talk with her about the reasons why she left him behind…and he had a feeling that this would be best if it wouldn’t happen in his dream alone._

_Keith still had that irrational fear that she wasn’t real…that he was only dreaming this to deal with the fact that he wasn’t with Lance any more…_

_He needed her to prove that she really was real. That he really had found his real mother._

_“Soon, my beloved.” She carefully kissed his forehead, smiling softly. “Soon I’ll be able to visit you…and to train with you. Don’t you worry.”_

_He tried to smile but couldn’t help the pang of disappointment that rang through his chest. How long would he still have to wait?_

_At least he wasn’t alone as he was falling through empty darkness again._

It was morning when Keith opened his eyes again, feeling warm and rested. He yawned and stretched extensively but paused as he recognized the source of warmth on his chest.

Right, there had been something…

There was a cat curled up on him, fiery red fur with black streaks over her back and as she looked up, amber eyes locked with purple ones and she started to purr.

A gentle touch reached out to his mind and made Keith smile as he reached out to pet the small shape-shifter creature.

“Hey, Red”, he whispered, his smile widening as she leaned into the touch, her eyes closing in bliss.

So, he…had a companion now.

Would this be similar to Blue who was Lance’s soul-animal? His companion?

_Oh no, no thinking about Lance now…no, no, no._

Now was so not the time.

He sighed as he got up, helping Red to sit on his shoulders where she changed into a dragon again and draped herself around his neck like a collar.

“Okay, so…Where to go now from here…”, he wondered, looking around as he slowly started to walk again, eyes following the way of the river he had been walking along since he left Allura’s property.

The trees had been retreating during the past few days, the forest now thinning more and more until he had a clear view on the river – now merely a small stream – weaving through high grasses until it reached a street. An apparently quite frequently used street.

He was very close to a new city…a big city, if the buildings in the distance were anything to go by.

Looking down on himself he also realized…he needed new clothes. Badly.

There was barely anything left of his pants and his shirt…

But seeing that he didn’t have any money to buy new ones…he might as well steal what he needed. It wasn’t like he would ever come back into this city again.

And if he got caught…Well, he still had Red.

Smiling, he patted the dragon’s head and continued walking.

Maybe he also got the chance to sleep in a real bed again…or at least somewhere without bugs and other small animals crawling around on him.

A feeling of excitement rushed through him that wasn’t his own – he turned his head to look at Red and grinned.

“Good to know you’re with me.”

Yes, he only knew her since last night…since he had seen her in his dreams.

But…he wasn’t alone any more and that little small thing seemed to have taking a liking on him after accepting that he wasn’t going to hurt her…

Maybe this was just what he needed.

And if he didn’t find a place to stay in the city…maybe here in the forest? There would be something for him, he just knew it.

He wanted to train, to work, to get better and stronger…because he wanted to get back to Lance. And he couldn’t do that as long as he was as weak as he was now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tell me what you think of the story so far: did you like it? did you not? And if not...why not? I'd really like to hear your thoughts.


	14. Potions and Backgrounds

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance, Pidge and Allura take a day off for a trip into a city. Lance tells Allura about his family, they bond.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> .........................................
> 
> It's-a me, Loneeer!!
> 
> I feel so bad for not being able to update this regularly. Man.
> 
> but, uh...I still hope some people are left who're enjoying this story? If yes then leave a comment, pretty please!!  
> And nouwww enjoyy!
> 
> (It won't be long before Keith n Lance reunite again. Pinky promise. Chapter 17 will be the reunion, that much i can promise.)

The days passed.

Two weeks already went by since Lance had started his training – and he slowly could say…he was getting better. Better with controlling his magic, his Element, yeah, that most definitely since it was what he was training for, but also…his wounds were healing again. He hadn’t realized how deeply he was hurt because of Keith leaving…

Or well, he did realize it, but he didn’t let it get too close to him – because he knew…once he properly let the thoughts come in and show him memories of both of them walking together, of both of them sleeping next to each other…of their kiss…

He wouldn’t be able to stop crying.

But it was getting better now. Somehow, at least.

He couldn’t say if he would ever see the Fire witch again or not…but he really hoped he would.

After all, he still…still felt for him. Pretty strongly.

But Lance knew the first thing he would do when they really ever would meet again…is punch the living daylights out of him, breaking his nose, making him hurt.

Making him hurt like he had been hurt.

For leaving him in the dark like this, _for ever thinking that leaving could be a good idea!!_

But for now…

Lance sighed as he made his way from the beach up to Allura’s house again, stretching a bit and rolling his shoulders.

The day was sunny, clear and simply beautiful and he was up since the sun had risen, doing magic exercises in the ocean – alone.

Allura had encouraged him to do so, but she didn’t know that today he already went out this early…

Well. She was his teacher, yeah, but not his mother. But maybe he should have told her that he went exercising…or shouldn’t he?

Whatever.

Lance shrugged to himself and raised a hand to briefly look at it, the ice magic – still keeping a loose hold on his nerve-endings – forming icy blue lines, following the veins in his palms.

He smiled slightly to himself.

By now, he even was able to find something good in the way the thick scars wound themselves up his fingers and arms – they contrasted nicely with his tan skin and the icy blue veins full of magic. It was a strange thought, but…well. He tried to see the burn scars as battle scars…something to be proud of, something that wouldn’t make him sick to the stomach because they resulted from a Fire Keith had caused with the clear intent of hurting him.

But Keith wasn’t really himself that day…had this been his demon side coming out? Or was this the true form of the Fire witch?

Lance quickly shook his head to get rid of that thought, balling his hand into a fist as the light blue glow intensified a bit.

These days, Lance was almost constantly glowing with magic – because he always was surrounded by Water. His strength had risen and Allura had already told him that soon she would be starting to teach him how he would be able to fight by using his magic and his Element

He still was a bit wary of that offer, but…who knew. Maybe one day he had to defend himself…maybe even against demons. You never knew.

And he also couldn’t deny that he was a bit intrigued by that thought…Being able to fight with only Water?

On the other hand, Water was a very powerful Element. Not to be underestimated.

 

The old door creaked as he entered the small house, accompanied by a fresh gust of wind, smelling of saltwater and rain. Voices were heard from the room next to Allura’s kitchen and he grimaced a bit at the smell wafting towards him.

It smelled like…like rotting eggs. Like rotten eggs inside a grave.

_Looks like Pidge and Allura are experimenting with potions again._

_What in the name of all five Elements are they cooking together??_

He sighed, briefly ruffling through his still slightly wet, chestnut-colored hair before he walked over to said room and opened the door.

And immediately let out a sneeze as smoke clouded his vision and tickled his nose, another wave of that terrible stench hitting him and causing him to start coughing. “What the-“

“Oh, hey Lance”, came a young voice from somewhere behind the smoke. She sounded distracted and slightly muffled.

Lance blinked as his vision cleared again, waving his hand to distribute the rest of the smoke then using it to hold his nose. “What exactly are you both doing? It stinks terribly.” He groaned to emphasize his statement.

As no answer came from the two witches, he sighed and walked through the room, mindful of the many glasses on the floor and every wobbly cupboard with herbs, glasses of potions and various ingredients.

Pidge and Allura were standing over a large pot, quietly talking with each other. Allura’s eyes were glowing while she moved her hand over the purple-blue glowing liquid, Pidge watched her with slightly narrowed eyes.

Both had something akin to a mask drawn over their mouths and noses. Apparently to protect themselves from that smell.

She didn’t look at Lance as she answered his question. “Allura wanted to show me a potion for manipulating people’s emotions.”

The Water witch lifted an eyebrow. “Why would you want to know that? And there really is a potion for that?”

Allura’s glowing eyes moved towards him and her eyes crinkled slightly with a smile. “I wouldn’t be standing here and cooking it if not.”

Huffing thoughtfully, Lance moved to get closer, quickly looking into the swirling liquid but flinching back again at the burst of a pretty big bubble.

Neither Pidge nor Allura were moving.

“Coward.” The teasing grin was pretty hearable in the voice of the Forest witch. “You’re afraid of a bursting bubble?”

Lance only grumbled. “That thing was pretty loud. Besides, I already trained for six hours today. I’m exhausted and allowed to be a little jumpy.”

“Ooh, you poor overworked baby”, she laughed, but there was no bite behind her words. Just her normal teasing.

Despite his exhausted mood, he had to smile. She was getting better too…now it really felt like Pidge was his little sister. The one companion he never knew he needed.

He huffed as he leaned on the one free wall next to the two witches, watching Allura adding some more ingredients into the stinky liquid – which caused light blue smoke to rise up and suddenly the smell changed to something more tolerable.

Huh.

Science of brewing potions.

He knew he also was able to do it – quite good actually, but…he was exhausted and he needed the training for his magic more than anything else.

Besides, Pidge and Allura sure didn’t need his help.

After watching them for a few minutes, he decided that he was bored.

He also hadn’t had a free day during the last two weeks…he wanted to get out.

Out into a city, see other people again, just…maybe feel like a normal person…if only for one afternoon?

“’Luraa, we gonna do something today?”

Maybe see a city? It had been so long since he last was inside a city.

The Element witch huffed, not looking up from where she was staring into the kettle again. “Not now, Lance, you see we’re busy.”

Gosh, she sounded like his mum when she didn’t want to give Lance what he wanted.

Lance’s eyes narrowed at such a brusque rejection, but he sighed nonetheless – a bit dramatic, maybe – and made his way back to the door. “Alright…as you say, Princess.”

He surpressed his grin at Allura’s angry “You should not call me that!” and quickly slipped out of the room, closing the door behind him.

Alright, then he would play with Blue until they were done.

 

Two hours later, Lance had been able to convince both witches to take a day off and they were on their way into the next city.

Although…it wasn’t really a city, at least not a very big one.

It was a place with high residential buildings that looked like two houses had been stacked over each other, small alleys, bustling markets and beautiful parks.

Disguised with different clothing and concealer on Allura’s markings and Lance’s scars – at least the ones on his face; and he didn’t even need that much since the scars in his face weren’t half that bad –, they walked through the streets, marveling at everything that striked them different, everything they hadn’t seen since they became witches.

Lance tried to ignore the looks people were giving them. He couldn’t decipher if they were friendly or not…but so far, nobody had yelled at them to leave the city, so it seemed to be somewhat friendly.

As Pidge stopped, her eyes wide and round in awe as she stared into the window of a small shop, Allura had to smile. “See something you like, Pidge?”

“I have to get in there.” With these words, she stepped into the store. A bell on the door jingled slightly and Lance and Allura were alone.

The Water witch blinked, looking at Allura with big eyes. “And now? Do we wait until she comes out again?”

She shrugged, looking a bit unsure. “I guess…Meanwhile, we could also walk around for a little bit…” Trailing off, she looked around, looking for something to catch her eyes apparently. Her face lightened up as she discovered the entrance to a park nearby and she started to walk.

Her eyes widened more as she looked at the trees lining the way into the park and she let out a little gasp as she stopped.

“This park has juniberry trees, Lance…I haven’t seen these in a very long time.” Her voice wavered slightly with emotion, but she didn’t sound sad…

Lance followed her glance.

The trees she was looking at were quite big with mighty trunks, in full bloom with dark pink flower-like blossoms decorating the branches which were waving slightly in the warm spring breeze.

They looked beautiful.

Lance quickly looked back at Allura’s face to see that there…again…was a tear in her eye?

Or maybe it was just an illusion from the way the sun sparkled in her eyes…either way, she looked both happy and deeply lost in memories.

“Let’s go there, then”, he said, grinning from the way she blinked at him and a small smile slowly spread over her face.

 

A few minutes later they were sitting underneath a juniberry tree, eating ice cream and enjoying the warm spring breeze.

Allura looked…happy…or at least content to just simply sit there with him, enjoying the silence.

Lance briefly closed his eyes and leaned his head back on the tree as he finished his ice cream, breathing in the sweet scent of the juniberry blossoms and looking up towards the treetop, taking in the sight of so many flowers and listening to the few people walking through the park and talking quietly with each other.

His chest ached a little as he heard a little girl arguing with her mother about wanting to go home…it made thoughts of home…his old home…appear in his head.

Biting his lip, he looked at Allura who had touched his arm briefly to get his attention.

The Element witch tilted her head, her look open and slightly worried. “Everything okay?”

Lance nodded. “Yeah, it’s just…I wouldn’t say I’m really homesick, but I still somehow miss my family…” Another sigh.

“That’s pretty similar to being homesick, at least as far as I know, Lance.” She fully turned towards him, her blue-pink eyes sparkling slightly with her smile.

She finished her ice cream then leaned back to lay into the grass and look up into the crown of the tree. It was unusual for Lance to see her like that.

Looked like she did need that day off too.

Silence again, only disrupted by a few birds singing over their heads. It was peaceful.

“Would you mind telling me of your home? Or is it too painful to talk about?”

Lance hesitated a bit, her question catching him off guard. Then he shook his head slightly, sighing as he stretched. “No, no, it’s alright. I’ll tell you a bit about my family.” He paused. “After all, you also told me of yours, so I guess it’s only fair.” A tiny smile found its way on his lips.

She turned her head towards him and laid on her side, making herself more comfortable. “That doesn’t mean you have to. But I’d love to hear a bit of where you come from.”

Lance nodded slightly. “I’m gonna tell you.”

He crossed his legs and just stared at his fingers for a few seconds as he played with them, not knowing where to start or what Allura maybe even wanted to know especially.

“Where should I begin…” He sighed.

“Like you, I come from a pretty big family. I have two sisters, two brothers, a niece and a nephew…and we’ve also been living together with our grandmother. She’s been…I don’t know. I really, really love my mum – our dad died when I was still very young – but Grandma has always been the one I was closest with since a young age…I don’t really know why. Maybe it’s because she was closer to the witches in my ancestral line…”

At Allura’s questioning gaze, he smiled a little. “The last witch of our town came from my family…she was quite powerful apparently…but that had been hundreds of years ago. I don’t know what kind of powers she had…But she lived during a time, where witches still had been allowed to stay where they had been living before they revealed their powers.

“Anyway, so…I’ve always been closest with my Grandma, like I said. My siblings…” He sighed, shrugging. “Well. We dealed…But they were all so much older than me, it was difficult to built a real connection to them – safe for Madison, she was the youngest of us. She was ten when I had to leave…I wonder how she’s doing now.” He sighed.

“I would give everything to be able to speak to her again…but I guess she hates me since I…since my powers appeared.” His hands tightened into fists. “How could I know this would happen? She acted like…like I had some saying in that part. Like I chose to be banned out of the city.

“Well…back to my family…Aria and Alex were Lucia’s kids…and Lucia’s my second oldest sister. I think they liked me? I played with both of them for quite a lot…but they only turned three when I left. So I guess they don’t really remember me.” A sad laugh.

“I wish I could be able to watch them growing up…But as a witch, I’m not allowed to talk to them any more.” He stared at his hands, swallowing.

“Sometimes I really wish I didn’t have these powers…because then I could be with my family again…then I wouldn’t have to loose that many friends…and I could be with Hunk again…” He teared up at the thought of his once-best-friend, squeezing his eyes shut and trying to will back the tears threatening to spill.

“I’m guessing he was a good friend of yours.” Allura’s voice was soft and quiet.

“He had been my best friend. But…he turned away like everyone else…he didn’t say anything to make my banishment more tolerable…he just turned away…and…and…” Burying his face in his hands, he choked on a sob, the tears freely falling now but he didn’t care.

Remembering hurt so much…

Allura sighed before sitting up, inching a bit closer to him and placing her hands on his, her grip warm and reassuring as she pulled his hands from his face, preventing him from hiding.

He looked up to meet her gaze then quickly looked away again, sniffling a little and feeling embarrassed for breaking into tears like that in front of her.

Sheesh, he wasn’t supposed to tell her such a pitiful story…he wasn’t…did she even want to know about that all?

It felt strangely personal to speak Hunk’s name out loud…He didn’t even want to talk about him in the first place but it just slipped out of him as he remembered what _could have been if he hadn’t turned into a freaking waterfall on that fateful day…_

“Maybe it could have been dangerous for him to speak up for you, I don’t know. And…maybe that’s why he didn’t do it.

I know you’re hurt by the fact that he turned his back on you like this even though you two had obviously been close…but maybe you’ll have a chance to talk to him again some day. I’m actually pretty sure about that. And some things may…turn out different than you expect.”

Before Lance could ask what she meant by that, she already continued, her smile fading to make way for a more serious expression.

“But don’t say such things about your powers. I know you’ve experienced much hurt simply because of the fact that you have magical abilities – but they made you stronger. They brought you here. They helped you to find Pidge, they brought us all together…Every hurt you went through…it will be worth it in the end.” She paused, her eyes closing for a bit before a smile crossed her features.

“It won’t be in vain. You have greatness within, Lance. Don’t forget that – there is a reason the Water chose you.”

Her little speech made Lance smile. “Thanks, Allura.” He grasped her hand, squeezing it briefly. “I really hope so.”

Allura’s smile widened.

For a few minutes, they just sat next to each other again, enjoying the warm breeze and each others company.

“Do you want to know how I found out that I have healing abilities?”, Lance suddenly asked, a smile on his face as he stared into his lap, playing with his fingers again.

He didn’t know why he offered to tell her…maybe because he enjoyed the atmosphere around them, how it felt right now and…it just…felt right to offer more to her. To tell her a little more about himself, even if it meant making himself vulnerable.

“Of course! Did you…did you hurt yourself once?” She laid back again, looking up at him with a smile on her lips.

He snorted briefly. “If it only would have been once…No, it was during my first few…days, actually, as a witch. It was the first time for me being alone and I didn’t know how to search for food…I didn’t know anything, actually about surviving alone in the forest. I wasn’t allowed to get back into the city again…so I somehow had to find food where I was.”

A chuckle. “I couldn’t find the heart to start hunting even if I knew how to…so I ate the first berries I found. But, with my luck, they had been poisonous.”

Long, tan fingers ranked through tousled, brown hair and he smiled a little at Allura’s wide eyes and her little gasp. “Yep… So I managed to poison myself, then tried to climb on a tree because there were some fruits I knew for sure wouldn’t poison me and I wanted to have them – but of course I’m terrible at climbing and managed to fall down and…well. Hurt myself pretty badly – and that only added to how weakened I had been through the poisoned berries.”

A short laugh tumbled out from his lips – but it sounded bitter. “I don’t really know how I managed to get back to my shack…but I didn’t want to live on like this. I didn’t choose to be a witch, didn’t want to have endure this fate. I believed I was punished…at least my mum told me that…this would be my punishment…And I didn’t want this any more. So…I found my knife and tried to…you know.” He motioned towards the one long scar over his left underarm, barely visible underneath all the burn scar tissue, just like the other scars from his healing training.

Allura’s eyes were wide, shock and disbelief speaking from them. She tried to say something but eventually stopped, sitting up again and moving to sit at his side. His hands had balled into fists.

“It took me almost bleeding to death to find out that my magic can heal me”, Lance whispered, not moving as the Element witch eventually pulled him closer and into an embrace.

He swallowed, relaxing slowly into her hold after a few seconds

“I’m sorry you had to go through all of this, Lance”, she softly whispered.

A snort. “You had it much worse, please.”

“That doesn’t mean your burden is less to bear. What happened to my family has already been fourty years ago – I had time to come to terms with it. But your wounds are still fresh. They should be treated properly and given time to heal.”

Lance only huffed, not really knowing what to say more about that.

After a few moments, she drew back again, smiling at him. “Thank you for trusting me enough to tell me all this. I really appreciate your openness.”

Rubbing his eyes a little bit, he couldn’t help but smile back. “No problem, Princess.”

His smile widened as she rolled her eyes at the nickname.

He could get used to this. Definitely.

Just…no thinking about Keith.

At a call of their names, both Lance and Allura looked up towards the entrance of the park where Pidge came walking towards them. Her arms were full of stuff she definitely bought from that store earlier and a big grin was on her face.

She honestly looked a little crazy…but it was Pidge. She always went a little crazy about things that excited her to no ends.

“You seem like you found everything you’ve been searching for.” Allura smiled as she stood up, dusting off her dress and walking towards the other girl, followed by Lance who walked a little slower.

“This store is ah-mah-zing! We have to come here again, there is so much I can use for testing out new potions or spells!”

Lance had to grin slightly at how her forest-green eyes were sparkling when she talked.

It reminded him of Madison…she had that same look whenever she was about to open a present…or no, it was Lucia. She had that look whenever she talked about something she really enjoyed, something that really delighted her.

Which was obviously the case for Pidge now as they left the park and she continued rambling about more…stuff…and Allura listened to her with a soft smile on her face.

The Water witch watched the two girls in front of him, his arms slung around his body.

Yeah…he could get used to living with these two, learning from Allura, talking to her like she was his mentor – what she most likely also was if he thought about it – and joking around with Pidge, sleeping outside under the star-spreckled sky and talking about the meaning of life.

Maybe they could really be his new family.

Just don’t think about Keith.

_Don’t think about that hole he had left inside of you.  
_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tell me what y'all think, I wanna knoooow.
> 
> Especially about Lance's backstory/the way he discovered that he was able to heal??


	15. Training, training, training

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Krolia finally gets to visit Keith outside of his dreams, they talk a lot with each other and start their training to help Keith becoming stronger.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so done rn. SOOOOO DONE.  
> I've been sitting in front of this laptop for SEVEN FREAKING HOURS STRAIGHT and lemme tell you, everything hurts and i'm ready to sleep.  
> this is probably the longest chapter i have ever written.  
> sooo please, enjoy.
> 
> also: i don't know anything about how adopted kids are feeling when they're meeting their real parents/their mom/their dad. so, forgive me if Keith's reaction somehow isn't understandable or sth...fuck this, i'm not going to read over it again. i'm too tired.
> 
> Have a great night, y'all.

_He was falling through darkness. Dreaming once again._

_But something was different today…_

_There wasn’t this inner calmness that he was about to meet Krolia in his dreams and be able to talk to her again… No, there was only nothingness._

_Black nothingness._

_And an overwhelming sense of dread, like something bad was about to happen as soon as he was falling out of that darkness._

_Keith didn’t like that feeling one bit._

_But no matter how much he twisted, how much he tried to turn and make out a shape in the darkness… there was nothing._

_Not for long though…_

_A few moments later, buildings formed out of the blackness, shaping into buildings and a dark forest, the scenery startingly beautiful and still frightening._

_Because Keith knew these buildings._

_Knew what house it was at the end of the road he was standing at now now after he had landed and his eyes widened in horrified realization._

_It was the one he had been banned from a few weeks ago…_

_And…_

_No, no, no, he didn’t want to live through that again…Not once again…_

_Didn’t he already live through his mistakes_

_Shivers raked over his skin as he spotted two figures standing in front of the house. They both were awfully familiar to him, the slightly smaller one with a black, pointed hat and the other one tall and muscled – and as they turned around, he also knew why he was so sure he knew them_

_The taller man was Shiro._

_Beautiful, unmarked, smiling Shiro, wearing the same clothes like on that fateful day and looking at him like he was so happy to see him._

_“Keith”, he softly said, spreading out his arms. “It’s so good to see you again. I missed you.”_

I’ve missed you too _. Tears welled up in Keith’s eyes and he let himself believe the illusion for a few seconds, ignoring the still present feeling of dread inside of him and running towards Shiro and jumping into his open arms._

_A sob left his lips as his arms closed around him, held him close, gave the comfort he so much needed…oh Elements, how much he had missed this…_

_The brothers were standing there for probably a few minutes, Keith wasn’t able to tell._

_He never wanted to let go again._

_But then Shiro stepped back from the hug…and Keith could look at the other person behind him…_

_Lance._

_Beautiful, wonderful, gorgeous, flawless, smiling Lance._

_A shock of pain ran through his chest and Keith wasn’t prepared – he sobbed while staring at the love of his life, as beautiful as he remembered him, with the clothes he had when they first met, with that ridiciculously gorgeous star-spreckled cloak, his little glowing gemstone around his neck…_

_Fuck, he missed him so much…_

_Why, just why, why, why did he have to fuck up this bad??_

_Curse his demon heritage._

_The Water witch was walking towards him while Keith could do nothing but stare, his smile so full of love, so radiant and brilliant…it hurt the Fire witch even more. But then those gorgeous caramel colored hands were touching his cheeks, wiping his tears away and Keith closed his eyes at the wonderful, cold touch as it wandered to the back of his head._

_A whimper slipped past his lips._

_He had missed his counterpart so badly…missed the touch of Water and Ice that could calm his Fire down when it got out of hand…_

_“Hey, shhh…don’t cry, babe. It’s okay…I’m here.” Oh dear Elements, his voice…_

But you’re not really here… _Full of desperation, Keith stared at him, wishing so badly that this dream could be reality and he could see Lance like this again…_

_It would never be like this again. Even if he would be able to go back to Lance one day._

_“It’s okay…don’t cry.” Lance’s voice got even quieter and he pulled Keith closer, ocean blue eyes sparkling with an intensity Keith had only seen once during their journey – and fuck, no…_

_His heart thumped louder the closer Lance’s lips came and he wanted it, wanted to kiss him so desperately…_

_His eyes fluttered close._

_Heat sparked inside of him, spreading through all of his limbs, filling him with wonderful, deliciously raging Fire and he lifted a hand to card it through Lance’s chestnut colored hair, he wanted to feel everything of him, wanted to feel him even closer, more heat, more Fire, more lust, closer, closer, closer-_

_A scream pulled Keith back – his eyes widening as he stumbled…because Lance was burning._

_Set ablaze._

_Right in front of him._

_His blue eyes stared at Keith in silent horrer as another scream pulled his shocked gaze towards Shiro._

_He was burning too._

_Both were standing in flames._

_Both looked at him with faces frozen in their screams, Lance reaching out to him while the Fire made blistering wounds appear on his skin. “Why…why, Keith? Why did you do this? Why did you want to kill us?”_

_“I never wanted to kill you! I-I never wanted to do this! I…I never wanted to have power like this...!”, Keith screamed, tears running down his face as he sobbed and tried to reach out, tried to say that he never had this intent, that they were the two most important people in his life, tried to somehow get to them, to save them –_

_But his surroundings melted away and so did Shiro and Lance, drifting away from him – even as he started running._

_“No! Please…don’t leave me…”, he screamed and sobbed full of desperation, pain stabbing through his chest. He didn’t want to be alone any more._

_He had enough of being alone._

_“But you already left us, Keith.” Shiro’s voice was monotonous yet so accusing, scars appearing on his body just before he disappeared. Only his voice remained. “You already left me long ago. Don’t you think it’s just fair? Don’t you think you should know what it felt like?”_

_“NO! Please…please not…” Keith had no strength left in him. This was…this was torture._

_He broke down with a whimper._

_Shiro didn’t answer him any more._

_But Lance did…his body was also gone but his voice wasn’t and it was full of unsteady emotions like a pot with boiling water._

_“Why shouldn’t I leave you like you left me behind? Why shouldn’t I hurt you like you hurt me? It’s only fair. Just taste your own medicine, babe.”_

_Keith screamed, but there was only silence around him._

_They were gone._

_“NO!” His shout echoed through the darkness as he was falling again, gripping his hair and violently tugging in an attempt to feel something else than the sharp, stinging pain in his heart, the pain that he had failed, failed, failed, failed…_

_“I’m sorry…I’m so, so, so sorry…Please come back, I miss you…”_

_Sobs continued shaking his body as he was falling through cold, cold darkness…or floating. He couldn’t tell._

_It didn’t matter._

“…wake up, Keith!”

A female voice ripped him out of the darkness and with a gasp, his eyes snapped open, his arm reaching out in an instant as he remembered the two most important people in his life, set ablaze in front of his eyes and drifting away from him.

“Lance…”, he whispered, tears once again welling up in his eyes as he remembered the desperate loneliness, the way Lance and Shiro were burning…

How was he able to erase his memories?

Was there even a way he could forget all this?

Curling up again, he didn’t fight the sobs leaving his lips.

Fuck, he didn’t think that missing somebody could hurt so much…

“Shhh, hey. It was only a dream. You’re okay, Keith.” A warm presence appeared behind him, shadows spreading out over him and just as a clawed hand softly touched his shoulder, another, much smaller, fuzzy presence wormed its way into his arms and snuggled against his chest, a soft “Mreowww…” reaching his ears at the same time as the soothing warm touch against his spirit.

Red.

Opening his eyes slowly, he looked down on the red cat in his arms who stared up at him with worried golden eyes; she was a little larger than yesterday – just the perfect size for him to snuggle. Just as if she had known that he needed comfort now.

He felt warmth rushing through his veins at that thought, soothing the pain in his chest a little.

But…right, there was someone else behind him…

As he looked up, his eyes widened at the sight of shadowy wings spreading out above him.

Was it possible…

He shot up, turning around, still keeping a firm grasp on Red. “Kro- Mum??”

And really, his mother was sitting behind him, her wings spread out, her pupilless eyes slightly glowing and a smile on her lips, her hand that she had laid on his shoulder still hung in the air for a bit. “Hello, Keith.”

He stared at her with wide eyes.

She was real.

His mother was really here…

For a second, he was able to suppress the haunting pictures of his dream.

“B-but…how were you…so suddenly…”

Her smile widened, she looked down. “I don’t really know…I felt like this night it was easy for me to leave the realms of Hell. Something had been calling for me. Probably it was because of…” She cut herself off. “Or no, I don’t really know.”

Keith’s brows furrowed at that, but he didn’t ask any further. He should just be glad she was here…he never would have hoped he’d see her outside of his dreams…

Did that mean she would stay with him now…?

So, he sat up a bit further, cuddling Red more into his chest who gladly went with it and purred softly. “I’m…I’m glad you…I’m happy to see you.” He looked up at her, feeling a bit shy. He still wasn’t used to the fact that…this demon woman was in fact his mother.

Yet alone to speak from accepting the fact that he was half demon. That was something that still needed a bit to sink in properly.

Sue him…it all was still new to him.

It had maybe been one or two weeks since he was seeing Krolia regularly in his dreams.

And he probably had enough time to think about all that until now. But…he somehow never really found the time…

Krolia’s pupilless eyes crinkled a little with her smile and she reached out to gently wipe at his tear-stained cheeks. “I’m happy to see you too, my beloved.”

He closed his eyes and leaned into the touch, smiling a little himself.

It felt weird that she was looking at him with that kind of…motherly love. Even that he hadn’t really received often from the woman he used to call his mum…

Wasn’t he undeserving of love?

Krolia’s smile faded a little as she noticed him zoning out. She sighed, her hand leaving his cheek to land in her lap again.

“There’s a reason I came, Keith.” A little pause. “You’re still not very familiar with your powers – and I want to change that. I can train with you – I can answer the questions you probably have…and I can help you to accept the part of yourself you probably hate or are afraid of – your demon half. I’m sure that’s quite a difficult topic for you…but if you want to, if you let me help you…you’ll be able to become stronger.”

Keith blinked. “How do you know that’s what I wanted to do?”

She smiled. “Wasn’t too difficult to guess. I’m sure you’ll want to get back to this…Lance. So?”

The Fire witch hesitated for a bit, a small pang in his chest at the mention of Lance’s name. He looked down on Red who just stretched to lick his cheek a little and made him grin. “Well, I want to get stronger, yes…and I want to get to get back to him. So…okay.” He smiled at her.

_Might as well train my powers if I can’t get rid of them._

“For obvious reasons we can’t stay here in the forest. Even if it is in an acceptable distance from the next city – I don’t want you to set everything around you on Fire. Which is very likely to happen – given how unexperienced you are.” Krolia stood up.

Well, she had a point. But where else would they be able to train?

“So, I’m going to take you with me into one of the…anteroom of Hell.” A slight smile spread over her face at how his eyes widened, showing off her needle-sharp fangs. “Don’t worry, you’ll be safe. Zarkon doesn’t have any…his eye doesn’t reach to the part where I plan to take you. We’ll have plenty of time to train and don’t have to worry about destroying anything.”

Taking her words into consideration, he nodded slowly as he stood up, letting Red crawl on his shoulders where she changed into a small dragon again, snuggling comfortable against his neck. “But…who’s Zarkon?”

Krolia paused for a few seconds, then sighed and closed her eyes briefly. “He’s…the ruler of Hell. A very tyrannical ruler. Some demons say that he hasn’t been like this forever, that he once even had a decent personality…but I don’t really believe that. He has always been the epitome of a demon who wants to destroy everything in his way.”

She didn’t raise her voice, but her hate towards this Zarkon must be really strong, judging by the way how tense her body was, how wide the shadows of her wings were fuzzing out around her and how her hands balled into fists.

A few seconds later, she shook her head slowly, relaxing her body again. “Let’s just…stay away from the actual realms of Hell. Then we will be out of danger.”

Keith wanted to ask more but thought again and decided against it…Maybe later.

He watched Krolia taking a step back, facing him as she lifted a hand and spread out her shadowy wings which covered both of them like a blanket of blackness.

“You may want to hold on to me. This is going to be a little uncomfortable since it’s your first time changing worlds.”

A bit confused, Keith nodded and stepped closer to her, grabbing on to her waist and feeling her free arm gently laying over his shoulders, pulling him closer towards her and trying to not dislodge Red.

Then she started speaking words in that same old, strange language, like she had done when she summoned Red in his dream – and suddenly, the blackness surrounding them got even thicker…and he had a strangely strong sense of déjà-vu as they were falling, falling, falling and he held on to Krolia for dear life because what if he lost her here, in this all-consuming darkness…?

What if he drifted away from her and was lost, lost, lost?

This was how his dreams always began…this was the first thing he felt and saw when he was dreaming. Since that day when his powers revealed.

So…had he unknowingly stepped into Hell while he was sleeping? During all this time?

Well, shoot.

Which would mean that Krolia hadn’t entered his dreams…he had entered a place where she had been waiting for him.

Or something like that.

He wasn’t really sure.

A few seconds later, the feeling of falling finally went away and a world seemed to form around them.

Blinking a little, he looked up from Krolia’s shoulder, where he had been hiding his face during the fall – and simply stared as her wings tucked themselves to her back again and he could see.

They were standing in a desert.

Lots of sand and stone formations were around them and once again, this all seemed so familiar to Keith – as he discovered the entrance of a cave nearby.

This couldn’t be possible.

Or could it….?

Was this really the desert with the cave he first met his mother in?

He looked at her with wide eyes as this realization hit him. “W-why did you brought me here?”

Her brows furrowed, she looked a bit confused. “Because it’s a really good place to train, I already told you that.”

“No, I know, but…I know this place.” He hesitated, looking around. “I’m not quite sure but…that feeling of falling through darkness we went through before getting here…it happened at the beginning of every dream I had during the last weeks. Since…since my powers revealed. It was before both the dreams in which I met you…and the nightmares.”

Krolia’s purple eyes went wide for a second. Then, a smile spread over her face. “You’re more powerful than I thought you’d be. That means you have been changing worlds during your sleep from the moment your Fire powers awakened.” She stepped back from him, looking around a little too.

Suddenly her expression changed for the split of a second, a sigh escaped her, and Keith was almost sure she had mumbled something along the lines of “hopefully Zarkon didn’t found out…”

But as she looked at Keithh again, her expression was the same as before again, a smile on her lips.

“But let’s talk about that later – I’m actually glad the ride here wasn’t that uncomfortable for you then.”

She smiled. “Let’s get to a place where we can talk for a bit before we start the training.”

He nodded and followed her as she started walking, looking around with big eyes.

There was only one thing that was different to the desert where he first met his mother: the sky wasn’t bright blue, it was a fiery golden-red.

Almost like Red’s dragon scales.

Said dragon on his shoulders growled softly, curling a bit more around Keith’s neck as she looked around with big, golden eyes. There was steam drifting out of her snout.

The Fire witch briefly looked at her as a feeling of warning coursed through his veins.

From what should he be careful…or wary here?

Krolia had said here wouldn’t be any harmful creature…or at least that they would be safe here.

Before he could think any further, they had reached the cave that was so evident to him a few minutes ago.

Krolia walked inside through the slim entrance and quickly looked around before she chose to simply sit on the ground next to what looked like the remains of a campfire. She motioned for him to sit down as well.

It didn’t really look that inviting, but come on, it was a cave…in a desert…

He wondered if his Fire magic or his demon heritage was the reason that he felt like the heat in here was more pleasant than oppressive.

Sitting down as he was told, he looked at her expectantly.

The demon took a deep breath. “Before we start the training on how to use your Fire magic – you first have to learn how it works. How you’re going to be able to use it.” Her voice settled into a calm, serious tone and her hands were loosely held in her lap.

Keith blinked. He hadn’t expected her to give him a lesson on how to use his magic…

Still, it may be good if he paid attention now.

So, he nodded slowly, sitting down a little more comfortably as Red climbed on his legs again, cuddling into his lap, still in her dragon form and purring a little bit as Keith scratched her head softly.

Krolia watched them for a little while. “Set Red aside for a second, please.”

He frowned. “Why? I like having her here.”

A sigh. “Just do it, please. You’ll need both of your hands.”

Keith frowned some more, but eventually did as he was told, briefly watching as Red changed into a cat again and went to play with some twigs.

“Focus on me, Keith. Stretch out your hands please.”

Turning back towards her, the black-haired boy did as he was told.

Krolia did the same, watching as purple flames appeared around her fingers. They flickered calmly, casting a strange, mystic glow inside of the cave.

“Your power comes from a source deep within you. I’m sure you’ve felt it before – like a Flame that’s constantly burning in your chest. And when you exhausted yourself and need a recharge, this Flame flickers less and less, dying down into a mere spark if you really took it hard on yourself.”

Slowly, Keith nodded while listening to her. This was exactly how he had felt a few nights ago…when he got Red to help him with that if it should ever happen again.

“You have to keep it on under all circumstances. If your Flame dies…you’re in real danger, my friend.” She sighed. “But I know this won’t happen because you’ll feel the effects before it can come this far. And that’s where Red will help you.

“So, your power is like a Flame burning in your chest. And to use it, to control it – you have to let the Fire course through you. Like leading it though your blood vessels. Direct it where you want it to go – which is preferably through your arm up into your palm and fingers.”

Keith’s brows furrowed. “And how do I do that?”

She hesitated a few seconds. “Feel inside of you. Try to grasp it. Try to get a feel of the Flames. Bend them to your will.” Motioning towards his hands, she smiled a little. “Go on, try it out.”

He looked at her with a sceptic lift of his eyebrow, but sighed and closed his eyes, felt into his chest for his magic.

Yes, there was it.

A soothing, burning warmth, a golden, sparkling Flame of powerful magic burning in his chest.

Curiously, Keith tried to reach out, reached into the Flame and tried to grasp it, tried to bend it to his will – as his eyes suddenly shot open again and he gasped as he was so violently ripped out of his concentration, clutching his shirt at the sudden pain in his chest.

The Flame felt different now…more…angry…and like it…wasn’t a part of him. Like it had been content to sit in his chest for his whole life – but now that he tried to reach out to it and wanted to actually use it…it was angry at him.

For what, he didn’t know.

“What’s up?”, Krolia asked, her forehead creased with worry.

He shook his head. “I don’t know…I tried to do what you said but it almost was like it…didn’t want me to even touch it…now it feels like it wants to burn a way out of my chest.”

A slight smile appeared on Krolia’s face, she sighed with a sympathetic look in her eyes. “It might not work on your first try since your magic is different – it is partly element magic and partly what you inherited from me. So…it may be a little difficult to get it under control.”

She leaned back a little. “But it will work, trust me.”

Keith nodded slowly, taking a deep breath and closing his eyes again. He would not let that fact stop him.

“Maybe try it again once you’re ready again.”

 

Keith had no idea how many days had passed.

It must have been some time now that he was coming to this place regularly with his mother – she teached him, they trained together, they talked together.

It brought them closer.

But there was one question that still burned in his mind since the first day he met her.

“Mum?”

His voice was quiet as they were in the cave again after a long day of training. Keith was still trying to get some Flames to appear on his fingers…It worked sometimes, sometimes it didn’t.

Right now, Krolia was preparing something to eat for them both while Keith sat against one of the walls and watched her while playing with Red for a little bit.

“Yeah?” She briefly looked towards him.

He hesitated, but then sighed. _I might not get another chance than now._

“Why did you…why did you have to leave me behind as a baby? Why did you…give up on me? Why did all of what happened had to happen… before I met you in my dreams?” He looked away. “I know you said that…humans took me away from you, but…was there no way you could have prevented this? Was there no way you could have been with me from the start…?”

For a few minutes, Krolia was silent and as Keith dared to look at her, she seemed to be frozen in her movements. She just stood still like a statue, her pupilless eyes wide as they stared at him.

Then she blinked, swallowing briefly before putting the food down and slowly walking over to sit next to him.

She looked like she just relived a pretty painful memory.

Oh Elements… Did Keith even want to know…?

Oh yes, he did. He deserved to.

So, he watched her as she was silent for another few moments before she started talking.

“It’s a pretty long story”, she said quietly. “But I’ll tell you. You deserve to know.”

She paused. “I just hope you won’t hate me once I’m done talking.”

Keith shook his head. “I won’t. I just…I need to know.”

Krolia briefly smiled at him then looked at her hands again.

“To tell this story, I probably need to begin with the circumstances I conceived you under…

Eighteen years ago, I was a soldier at Zarkon’s royal court. I even was one of his bodyguards, one could say. And I know first hand of what he’s capable of.” Her face darkened. “I had been loyal to him for my whole life…but I started to question it as I saw just what he did not only to the demon race but also to the Altean witches and the shape-shifter. And how he threatened to do the same thing to the humans. And as I saw in what ways he’s exploiting shape-shifters like Red to ensure his army of magically gifted demons is always at full power…I left. I couldn’t stay there any longer.

“I left…completely left Hell for the first time in my life and went to Earth as I discovered my ability of walking between the worlds. On Earth, I met your father…and fell in love with him. But I don’t have any shape-shifting abilities so once a human is able to see me…they know I’m a demon.” She swallowed.

“But he wasn’t afraid of me…So one thing led to another and a while later, I knew I was pregnant. By then, the people in his village had already found out that he had been sleeping with a demon…and while I was away…they killed him.”

Her eyes closed briefly as she took a deep breath. “I didn’t know…and when I came back to see him…all I found was his dead corpse and the village people came hunting after me. They wanted to see me dead too. And since I can’t stay on Earth for a long time, I had no other choice than to go back to Hell again…because where else should I go if he was dead?

“I managed to live my life quite undisturbed until you were born…I could only stay in the outskirts of Hell because Zarkon had been searching after me. But once in a while I had to enter his kingdom… because there were no volcanoes in the outskirts of Hell – and I had to fight for my life every time. I didn’t want to die…but even more so, I didn’t want you to die. I wanted to protect your still growing life from that.

I also knew that from the moment you were born, you would be in the same danger as I was. Because you’re the first half-demon since the start of Zarkon’s reign and he had decided that every demon that isn’t a pureblood…should die. I managed to spare you that fate… but the outskirts are no place for a child, yet alone for a baby…

I was a lot more immature back then than I am today. I was panicking because as much as I wanted a child with my first love…I didn’t know what to do once he wasn’t there any more. I had nobody else to confide in…and I knew I wouldn’t be able to raise you alone. Not with the way I had been living back then and with…how wanted I was in the realms of Hell.

So, I decided that I would take you to Earth, since you’re half human…and I was fully convinced that you would be better of in a human family who could care for you…way more than I was able to. I searched…trying to find a family that seemed like it would take good care of a lonely baby…

I know this sounds so irresponsible of me, but believe me, I’ve taken as much time as I possibly could afford to decide on this…and I hided myself, watching this family of two with their small son for weeks while I held you in my arms…and somehow I just knew these were the people I could trust to take care of you.” She paused. “I may have not said the truth when I said that the humans had taken you away from me…I’m really sorry for that. The truth is that I gave you to them…because I had no other choice.”

Again an audible swallow, her hands balling into fists. “I feel so bad for ever doing this to you…I planned on coming back again, when my situation here had cleared up and I could take you back with me…but I never got the chance. Zarkon’s soldiers found me and I was sentenced to over five years in Hell’s prison… The next time I finally had the chance to get back to Earth again after I escaped was four years after I left you in the hands of that particular family. I wanted to get you back, to take you with me – but as I hided and I saw you playing with that older boy…the way you laughed…the sparkling in your eyes…it all told me that you were happy here…that you didn’t need me to take you back.

So I left again, alone…I tried to visit you some time more because I really wanted to see you again…I missed you so badly. But I realized I’ve somehow lost my ability of wandering between the worlds. There was nothing I could do any more…except for waiting until your demonic powers would show. Because I knew you would be magically gifted too. And I knew that by the time your powers would reveal themselves, I would be able to talk to you again.

And as they finally did appear a few weeks ago, I was so happy…I instantly tried to reach out to you, to visit you – but there was this cold wall of ice that kept me from doing so…So I had to wait, again.” A last pause. “Until you separated from him and I was finally able to see you…when you visited the outskirts of Hell during your dreams.”

Silence reigned as she was finished.

Keith’s mind was reeling from everything she had told him. He was frozen, couldn’t even seem to grasp a single thought.

“I never stopped loving you, Keith”, she whispered as she carefully looked at him. “I missed you so much…you may not see me as your mother, but I still know that you’re my son and I’ll always love you as such…and I won’t do this again. I left you once…I’ll never leave you again.”

He stared at her with big eyes, still not fully comprehending what she just said.

She loved him…? _After all I have done?_

Judging by her small smile, he had said that last part out loud.

“Of course, Keith. Besides…I have done much worse when I was younger.”

He snorted briefly at that, leaning back and pulling Red closer to his chest to cuddle a bit with her.

“You need a little time for yourself?” Her smile faded slightly.

Keith nodded slowly, staring at the floor in front of him.

Krolia sighed a little.

“Alright…I’ll be back in about two hours.” She stood up and went to leave the cave.

“Oh…Mum?”

She turned around again, her face changing into a look of surprise.

“…thank you for telling me.” He hesitated. “And I don’t hate you. I just…need some time to think. To…come clear about a few things.”

Krolia nodded slowly, then left the cave, her large shadow wings spreading out and lifting her up into the by now black and red sky.

Keith sighed and burrowed his face in Red’s cuddly fur. This was indeed some stuff to think about…

His shape-shifting cat purred softly, nuzzling against his neck and providing comfort in a warm and soothing touch on his soul.

“Thanks, beautiful…”, he smiled, scratching her neck softly.

So…his real father was dead. Killed as his village people found out he had been sleeping with a demon.

Keith wondered what the people out of his city had found out that he wasn’t an Element witch, but simply a half-demon with the abilities of a Fire witch…

Ouh, he probably would have been killed before he had a chance to enter the forest.

Or would he have killed all of them…? He wasn’t sure.

But his mother said that his magic was a bit difficult to control because it was both Element magic and Demon magic…?

Confusing.

Well, at least he had managed to somehow grasp and control the Flame inside of his chest during the last few days…

He also knew now that his magic was emotionally driven. Which meant that whenever he was angry, sad or had any other very strong feelings – it was at its strongest and tended to lash out if Keith didn’t learn to control it.

Probably he still had to work on that.

But it only had been a few days since Krolia had started to train with him…and despite his difficulties, he was making progress. Small progress, but at least some.

Looking at his hand, he took a deep breath and started to concentrate, grasping the Flame inside of him and pulling it through his veins up his arms…And golden-red Fire started to lick at his fingers.

He couldn’t help but grin at this success. Even if that split moment of disturbance in his concentration was enough to let it disappear again, as well as his smile.

Sighing, he scratched Red’s fur again. “Was too good to be true if it would have lasted longer this time”, he mumbled to himself, closing his eyes again.

Shiro’s face appeared in front of his eyes. But not the face of an unmarked, young man – the man Keith had called his brother until the day he had been banned – it was the face of an eleven-year-old Shiro, laughing and playing on the city streets with a four-year-old Keith who ran behind him, stumbling from time to time but giggling along with his older brother.

Krolia had been around at that time…? She had been near…?

Keith swallowed, trying to think.

His whole life, he hadn’t even thought about the possibility of being something other than human…of not belonging into the family he grew up in…

He never missed his real mother…because Shiro’s mother had been caring for him like he was her own child.

Yes, love wasn’t very much shown in the Shirogane household…but…he knew that at least Shiro had loved him…and his mother too…?

He thought so.

But…Krolia had had good reasons to leave him behind…as hard as it sounded even to himself and no matter how badly he didn’t want to admit it.

If he was being honest, he would have run back into the house and scream for his parents if Krolia would have showed herself when he was four.

But why did she tell him that the humans took him away? Why did she lie?

Was it to pull him on her side…? To convince him she was the good one here…?

To be fair, she apologized.

So…he probably shouldn’t be that hard on her.

Gnawing on his lips, he looked at the ceiling of the cave.

He already trusted her. But…he really wanted to talk with her more, get to know her, bonding with her, feel what it would be like to have a demon woman as a mother…a mother who just told him she never stopped loving him through all these years. Even despite of what he had done.

Things that still haunted him.

Keith swallowed, squeezing his eyes shut. It was so hard to believe…Did he even deserve all this love? He wasn’t sure.

He almost thought no. Because he threw Lance’s love away so carelessly when he left him…

No, no, no, no, no thoughts of Lance. Not again.

He swallowed, taking a deep breath and closing his eyes to rest a little – he was quite exhausted to be honest – so he would be able to hopefully progress everything he had just learned and to pass some time until Krolia was coming back.

It was maybe an hour later that he awoke again, briefly looking around before he looked down on his beautiful shape-shifting cat again – and shrieked briefly as he got a look on his right arm, quickly letting go of Red and jumping to his feet.

Wh-what was that…?

There was a patch of purple on his arm, more exactly on his wrist. It was almost as big as his fist and…it didn’t look like it was from a bruise…

Because when he carefully touched it, it didn’t hurt one bit…it felt like skin, actually. Maybe a little rougher.

And it was a beautiful, even shade of deep purple.

And it was growing.

Oh dear Elements…

And it was almost the same shade as Krolia’s skin…only one or two shades lighter.

He blinked as he came to that conclusion, then stared at Red in horror who was standing in front of him and meowing up at him worriedly.

What was happening to him…?

Shape-shifter and witch stared at each other for a few minutes, before Red suddenly made a beeline for the entrance and slipped outside – and when Keith quickly followed her to see where she was running, he saw that she had changed into a much larger dragon form, her wings wide and majestic as she flew over the cave and let out a loud, earth-shaking roar.

Wow. She was really majestic.

Not even two minutes later, Krolia landed again in front of the cave, quickly slipping inside and coming towards Keith. “What happened? Did you got hurt? Did something attack you?” Her eyes were wide, her voice frantic and her hair messy from the flight; Red’s roar must have scared her.

Or worried her.

Or both.

Keith only looked at her with big eyes and showed her his arm. “No, I just…I don’t know what’s happening to me…Why is my skin suddenly changing color…?”

The demon woman blinked for a bit before she relaxed and smiled slightly. “And there I was thinking that Red called for me because you were in danger. Tsk.”

Keith blushed and looked away. “I just…I don’t know what this is, and I thought you’d know.”

She laughed. “Of course I do! Or at least I suspect it. I think that because you’re spending so much time here now – even if it’s only in the outskirts of Hell – your demonic traits are showing. And that includes purple skin. And a bit more, but that will show as the time passes.” A tender smile spread on her lips.

“You’ll get used to it, don’t worry. And once all your demonic traits have developed, you might even be able to change between a full human and a full demon form. I’m not really sure…there have been half-breeds before, but not enough records about them to really be able to say something exact.”

Staring at his arm, Keith nodded slowly.

Was he really ready to do this…? To stay here and keep training, but changing into a demon during that time? To accept the side of himself that had been responsible for how much he had been hurting Lance?

Yes. He wanted to be stronger. He needed to be stronger.

For Lance.

To get back to him.

“Will…will you help me with this?”, he quietly asked.

“My beloved, I’ll help you with everything I can…but the development of your demonic traits…it’s not something I can help making easier for you. But you’re strong – you’ll get through this. Besides…” She hesitated.

“We need to tame your demonic character side. When it awakened, it still was very…destructive and sure has caused a lot of damage…the fact that you’re half demon can bring you great strength – but we need to redirect this destructive energy and tame your demonic side so it won’t take control over you again.”

“How’s that going to work?”

“Training, Keith. Much, much training.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT KROLIA'S STORY PLEASE TELL MEEEEEEEE


	16. Together again

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keith and Lance finally reunite.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so very sorry this took me so long...but i wanted to like this chapter, didn't want to post sth i didn't like...  
> And now i'm finally somewhat content with it.
> 
> (Fun Fact: I'm still a damn virgin in every possible aspect so for writing that one scene between Keith n Lance i had to rely on my longstanding reading experience).
> 
> Hope you enjoy, ma dudes. I know there are several people who have waited for this chapter. Hope i did good with it.

Days came and went, weeks passed by almost without Keith noticing. Almost every one of his days was filled with training, getting closer with Krolia, coming in touch with his demon heritage.

Accepting the changes he went through…the longer they stayed in the outskirts of Hell.

He still flinched when he discovered new things about himself – like on that day where his nails had grown into sharp, dangerous claws and he accidentaly hurt Red with it while they played – it still wasn’t easy to get used to them, they weren’t even as sharp as Krolia’s, so they were useless during a fight.

Or on that when he got his fangs and it had hurt like a bitch – it was like he was teething again…Krolia had chuckled, looked at him with sympathy in her purple glowing eyes and explained that these were things normal demon children went through at a young age. It apparently took over a year until all their teeth had appeared – and they still were nowhere even near as sharp as the fangs of a full-grown demon like Krolia.

So, changes that normally would spread over five or seven years now happened to him in the span of one, two, three weeks.

He couldn’t say that he was really thrilled by that.

But once he got used to the changes of his appearance, he could say he was in tune with himself by now.

There were also some more than positive things – his hearing changed, his ears picking up the sound of his mother’s wings when she was returning to their cave. He was sure that once he would return to the forest…he would hear the heartbeat of every animal around him.

Oh, we shall not forget his height.

Over the span of one week he had a growth spurt of six inches – which made his back ache and his movements slow.

Krolia did what she could to help him – meaning that she cut back on the training and let him rest for a little bit longer than normally. During those periods of rest, Red would always come to lay with him, changing her form depending on how exhausted he was – sometimes she would lay next to him as a mighty, red lioness, other times she would cuddle up against his chest as a small, fiery cat.

On his more restless days, where he fell asleep during a break and nightmares came to haunt him, she would change into a giant, flame-colored dragon, curling around Keith’s body and spreading one of her large, leathery wings like a blanket over him, steam rising from her nostrils as her big, golden eyes watched him sleeping fitfully.

It seemed like the Fire witch had gained another mother since the day Krolia introduced him to Red.

 

Over the past weeks, he had gotten better with controlling his Fire magic. Much better. Krolia was almost cruel with her training – after the period of his growth spurt when he could move again without every one of his muscles and joints complaining – only giving him a break when he was about to faint at any second – but he didn’t dare to complain.

Even though the demon received a few angry growls from Red for challenging Keith like that.

Still, it was what he wanted – even though not everything always worked like he wanted it to.

He too had his bad days

It was frustrating beyond belief when nothing worked, when not even the ghost of a Flame was leaving his hands to shoot at Krolia because he was so exhausted and tired to the bone, the two kinds of magic inside of him fighting against each other and blocking him from using them both. Those were the days when he wanted to throw everything away, wanted to give up, when he screamed at Krolia because she wasn’t satisfied, because none of her exercises worked, because she didn’t know what was happening, because nothing was working, and he was so frustrated and angry at himself and Krolia for not understanding and pushing him like that-

-and then, on days where it felt like the anger would make him break out of his skin, there would be a rush of hot, hot Fire through him, right together with his anger. And he would literally burst in Flames, not even realizing it in the first moments, not having time to be surprised where this sudden rush of magic came from.

He would just run towards his mother again, his hand raised with a cry of rage, carrying red-blue burning Flames and the fight would continue – but this time Keith would see her fangs bared in a satisfied smile each time he was able to get a glimpse at her face.

Talk about emotionally driven magic.

 

“Once again, Keith.”

Krolia didn’t even sound out of breath – unfair.

He grunted, panting as he regained his balance. They had been at their last training exercise for about two hours or something, he wasn’t really sure; his mother was the target and he should attack her with all he had, trying to hit her with one of his Flames, but so far…she was fast enough to always get away before he was able to hit her.

Not one inch of her skin had been touched by his Flames so far.

“Not fair. You have freaking wings”, he complained. He was getting frustrated; his mother was clearly exploiting her advantage.

And she also seemed to enjoy it.

Krolia smirked, her shadow wings flapping slowly without any sound as they held her in the air above Keith.

“Find a way to still hit me. You’re a half-demon, Keith – you can find a way to take any opponent down, no matter if he can fly or not. No matter what advantage he has over you. I told you I’m not going to go easy on you.”

He sighed, rolling his eyes and closing them. “I know.”

Taking a deep breath, he tried to concentrate again and let a Flame appear in his hand. For a few seconds, he watched it intently before blinking a little as the Flame turned purple and a familiar feeling of raw, destructive energy rushed through his chest.

Huh. He hadn’t felt that energy very often in the last weeks…it was still new to him, that feeling of someone else, of a demon alter-ego inside of himself and he did his best to control it, to not let it take over like the last time it did.

Something whispered in his ear, hushed voices that told him to make her pay for teasing him like that.

And he thought of giving in.

He would be controlling the demon inside of him, but he knew he didn’t have to hold back on Krolia. She could take it; she still was stronger than him and even told him to attack her with everything he had.

Keith smiled a little before looking at Krolia with purple glowing eyes and charging at her, his fangs bared in a victorious snarl.

This time he would get her, he knew it.

He would be even stronger than his mother. Stronger than all the other demons because of the two kinds of magic that combined inside of him.

*

Days came and went, weeks passed without Lance noticing.

He had gotten used to his new life with Pidge and Allura now. It was a good life – simple, but fulfilling: There was his training with Allura, Blue, late night chats with Pidge, trips into another city where they bought everything Allura didn’t have at her home.

He didn’t need anything else.

Well, there was one thing – or better: one _person_ – he needed, but he didn’t want to admit that. Not even to himself.

For weeks he hadn’t allowed himself to think about that particular person – he would not start with it right now.

It would just hurt too much.

 

Pidge and Allura were busy once again, chitchatting over a bubbling kettle and after the third time of Lance disturbing them, his mentor had just told him to take a walk through the forest if he needed something to do.

“Or…” A smirk danced on her lips as she looked at Lance through the smoke. “You could start with cleaning the house. I’ve been meaning to ask you this anyway.”

“I…think I’d rather go for a walk, the weather’s so nice outside”, Lance chuckled, disappearing out of the room with a bright smile

Which…yeah, Lance was bored out of his mind. Again.

But not that bored that he would do chores around the house.

That never had been something he enjoyed doing; back at his old home, his mother always had to threaten him with cutting down his free time with Hunk to get him to do something around the house.

So, he did what the Element witch had suggested, taking the dark blue cloak she had given him a few weeks ago, lifting Blue on his shoulders and leaving the house, closing his eyes briefly as the salty breeze, smelling like ocean and rain, grazed his cheeks.

His mind started to wander as he entered the re-grown, dark forest – it looked like the forest around his hometown, back when he still was walking under its trees, searching for herbs he could use in his potions, following Blue and trusting her to lead him the right way.

He still didn’t know how his beautiful cat always was able to find the right herbs.

These days were probably only two or three months old – but it felt like it was out of another lifetime.

A slight chuckle left his lips at that thought.

He had tried to survive back then, so full of questions the day he left his house only to meet Pidge a few hours later. He would have never thought the events of the past weeks would lead him here…and he was glad he made that decision to stay with her and not go back into his shack. He probably would still live there, not knowing how to really control his Element and still having to hurt himself regularly to be able to at least somehow train his healing abilities.

It was so good that everything turned out like this.  

Right?

Everything was better than the lonely life in his old shack.

His life was wonderful right now.

If he ignored the hole in his heart, shaped like the one person he desired the most.

Blue meowed quietly, bopping her nose against his cheek as she sensed the instant drop of his mood – which made him smile again. “Yeah, sorry, I was lost in thoughts again.”

He softly scratched her head, his smile widening when she purred in bliss and leaned into his hand. “My beautiful girl”, he softly whispered.

Probably this walk was just the right thing to pass the time for a bit and to clear his head.

 

Or…probably not.

He stopped as he arrived at a clearing, looking around in confusion at the strange sudden feeling in his chest.

As if the hole that had been there for so long that he already had gotten used to it, suddenly was filling up again and warmth spread through his chest.

There was a noise of rustling leaves at the other end of the clearing.

Wait…was there anybody else here?

No, it was probably only an animal…his senses were going crazy on him.

If only Pidge was with him…she could tell him if there was anyone here besides him…and if that somebody was an animal or a human.

His eyes widened and he froze just as Blue jumped from his shoulder, growling as a person-

No, not a person. At least not a human one.

The demon.

Purple glowing eyes and lilac skin, pointed ears that poked out between strands of inky-black hair, there was something red on his shoulders that Lance couldn’t really focus on-

This was a demon, right?

Lance stumbled back a little, and he didn’t know what to do. Fight? Or flight?

Allura had taught him to fight against a demon if he should ever see one here on Earth… “Kill it before it kills you”, she tended to say.

He didn’t want to kill whoever this was…but he had to get them away from Allura’s property.

Why did this figure seemed to be so familiar to him, though?

Just imagination.

Icy blue danced through his eyes as he concentrated and ice daggers appeared in his blueish hands, his lips pulled back into a threatening snarl.

He wanted to say something but the other one beat him to it.

“Lance?”

Wait.

He knew that voice.

And suddenly, everything inside of him froze, coming to a halt.

Fuck.

No.

This wasn’t possible.

No.

No.

No, no, no, no…

This demon…

…was Keith. His Keith.

The daggers made a dull sound as they fell to the ground and Lance could only stare with wide, wide eyes as all his wounds reopened again, flooding him with pain, tinged with relief because _Keith, Keith, Keith, Keith is back, he’s here…_ but still, the pain was so unbearable…

_He is here._

Lance technically knew that Keith had been half demon… But the changes still surprised him.

And…did he got bigger??

But that wasn’t the only thing that was different about him. There was an aura of dangerous magic, of destructive Fire and golden gleaming Flames.

Those all were things Lance didn’t even realize properly, something inside of him registered all the things that had changed since he had seen Keith the last time – but he didn’t put too much thought into it.

He was too shocked to be able to do anything but stare.

He didn’t even realize Blue starting to run, jumping to attack Keith – but before she was able to do that, she was stopped by a growling red something, disappearing between the bushes in a blurred mess of red and blue.

But Lance didn’t care.

He swallowed, his chest aching as he finally remembered everything he went through because of Keith and his eyes narrowed at the sob that reached his ears.

Anger started to rise inside of him, replacing the numbing shock – and he embraced it because anger was something he could deal with.

“You have no goddamn reason to cry”, he murmured as he started walking, walking towards the Fire witch…Fire demon.

“You don’t have the goddamn right!!”

A shout as his fists turned into ice and he started running.

_His fault._

_His fault._

_His fault._

_It was all his fault._

He didn’t even hear Keith’s “Lance, wait!” – he just clashed into him and sent them both on the ground. Rolling around for a few seconds, there was no sound to hear safe from the grunts and growls of both witches as they fought for domination.

“How dare you to come back now?? Do you know what you’ve done to me? Asshole?? How do you fucking dare??”

Finally, after punching the other boy several times, only narrowly avoiding breaking his nose, Lance had managed to pin Keith on to the ground, holding his wrists with hands covered by ice.

Freezing blue eyes stared into burning purple ones, both glowing intensely with magic.

For a second, Keith looked hurt at his words, but that quickly changed as his eyes narrowed again.

“How can I not know”, the Fire witch growled. “It still haunts me ‘til this day.” He managed to turn them around so that now he was straddling Lance and staring down on him, holding him down with an iron grip on his wrists.

Damn, when did he get so strong?

“Will you listen to me now??”

“What for? Hearing your pathetic excuses?”, the Water witch hissed. He tried to wrestle himself free. “Let me go!” But Keith just pressed down on his wrists harder and Lance had to surpress a hiss at how his grip started to hurt, the heat burning on his skin.

“Will you listen to me now?”, he repeated, hissing.

Lance just shook his head, hiccupping as he felt icy tears burn in his eyes, all will to fight draining from him.

“There is no excuse for what you did, damnit! What made you even think that leaving me behind would be a good idea?? What made you think that?”, he screamed as they freely run down his face and his body shook from his violent sobs.

Still, he stared at Keith with a mixture of desperation and rage.

There was silence for a few seconds when only Lance’s sobbing echoed through the air.

“I went through hell because of you”, he whispered brokenly, Keith’s shocked face slightly blurring because of all these tears.

“Why did you…why did you choose this day to come back? Did you just came to hurt me even more? To give me hope and then disappear again?”

He hated how broken his voice sounded. But he needed to know. If Keith would stay…or if he just came to hurt Lance again.

Keith swallowed, closing his eyes briefly. As he opened them again, they lacked all kinds of magical glowing – except his eyeballs that still were tinged a light purple.

They looked at him with a sad expression.

“No. Lance, it…it was never my intention to hurt you this bad. And I also never hurt you like this again…I came to stay.”

He swallowed before continuing.

“I trained…I trained to get stronger”, he whispered. “I wanted to get stronger, so I could go back to you, so I wouldn’t be a danger for you any more.

“When I…on that day…that was the second time my powers got out of control.” He let go of Lance and sat back, avoiding any eye contact. “My mother found me…and helped me. To get stronger. And to…accept the demon part of myself. So that this”, he gestured towards Lance’s scars, “will never ever happen again.”

Finally, he looked at Lance again and pain danced through his eyes. “I was convinced you’d be better of without me. I was a monster…and…” He shook his head, swallowing again.

“I’ll never forgive myself for what I did. And that I left you alone.”

He leaned forward again, carefully taking Lance’s hand in his own. “Please…forgive me. And… maybe…” He hesitated, looking away for a bit then at Lance again with a pleading expression in his eyes. “Do you…will you give us a shot? Again?”

Lance swallowed, his eyes gleaming of unshed tears again. Of course he wanted to have Keith back again, but…

He wasn’t sure if he could trust his word. Who told him that he would really stay?

“Promise you you’ll stay with me this time?”, he whispered, using the hand Keith was still holding to pull him closer – maybe a little faster than he had intended…

He let out a small _oof_ as the move made them both loose their balance again – Lance tipping backwards and Keith falling forward to land on his chest, both boys looking at each other with eyes wide of surprise.

A small smile spread over Keith’s face, his fangs poking out from his lips and his cheeks darkening in a purple flush. “I’ll promise. I’ll stay with you until the end of time.”

“Even if…something happens again?” Lance motioned towards his arm, holding Keith’s purple gaze with an almost desperate look.

The Fire witch chuckled slightly. “This won’t be a problem because it will never, ever happen again.”

Silence for a few seconds.

“Okay…I’ll hold you onto that promise, babe”, Lance whispered, threading a hand into Keith’s inky-black hair and pulling him in for a kiss.

Galaxies exploded behind their eyes as their lips finally met again, making both boys gasp.

“Fucking finally”, Lance sighed, chasing Keith’s lips as he pulled back to breath, gasping as he felt the ice magic inside of him roar up again and collide with the burning Fire that was Keith.

Golden Flames started to brand over the Fire boy’s skin and the display was so wonderful, so beautiful that Lance stared with his eyes wide open, not even realizing how icy blue waves wandered over his own skin, displaying his magic in a way only Keith could achieve.

Lance almost didn’t hear his next words.

“Missed me that much?” A chuckle from the dark-haired boy as he caught him staring, but he closed the distance between them again, moaning against Lance’s neck at the feeling of ice branding against his lips.

“You have no idea.” Without being able to really do anything against it, Lance’s eyes fell close and his hips bucked up against Keith as their magic mingled once again and hot pleasure shot through him like flashes of the purest Fire, sending his nerve endings ablaze and making him shiver in Keith’s arms. “Oh Elements, Keith, you have no fucking idea…”

“Shhh, I’m here. I got you. I’ll never leave you again, baby.”

And he kissed Lance again.

Fuck…it hadn’t been that intense the first time they kissed, right?

It hadn’t felt like stars exploding, like…like universes clashing together, spreading heat and cold through him, making him shiver and whimper helplessly from the intensity of it all.

“Lance…” He said his name like a prayer. Like a fucking prayer – and Lance was so doomed.

He was so fucking whipped for this boy.

Somehow, he brought up the strength to grab Keith by his shirt and pull him even closer, turning them both around again so that Lance was on top of Keith now, grinding against his hips and moaning quietly at the contact, his breath stuttering as the intensity of all the pleasure was almost enough to make him come already, but it was too early, not like this, no…

The thought that he wanted to go all the way with Keith should surprise him – but instead it sent another flash of Fire into his groin.

Damn, he was hard.

And if he went by the way Keith moaned as he ground down on him again, he wasn’t doing any better.

Oh fuck, that felt so good.

“I don’t know if I should make you pay for the time you weren’t here or just let you get away with it”, he growled against Keith’s neck, taking the burning skin between his teeth. Damn, he tasted so fucking delicious.

“Do whatever you want with me, I don’t care…just do something!”, the Fire witch panted, his fingers clawing at the ground, searching for something to hold on as if he was just as lost to the pleasure as Lance himself.

The Water witch grinned. “Now that’s what I like to hear.”

But before he could do anything more – like…freeing Keith from his pants and getting them both off, like his dick told him to! –, there was a scream behind him and suddenly Lance wasn’t on top of Keith any more but lying on the cold ground, held back by roots that shot out from the ground to bind his wrists and there was a very angry Element witch, glowing like a fallen star and holding Keith up against a tree by his neck like he weighed nothing, her other hand was raised, white lightning sparkling in her palm while she shouted at him, words Lance still wasn’t able to understand.

This whole ordeal passed in maybe two seconds.

And at first, Lance was too stunned to do anything – but then he saw that this certain witch was his mentor.

A very angry Allura.

And he realized she would probably kill Keith if he didn’t do anything right now.

“’Lura, no! That’s Keith!! Stop!”, he screamed, freezing the roots that held him, breaking free and jumping up to help the Fire witch.

But that wasn’t necessary – there was a grunt, a scream and then a burst of heat, Fire around them, purple glowing and…destructive…

Lance froze at the burst of flashbacks he suddenly got.

Allura grunted in pain.

Only very distantly he heard Keith rumble: “Back off. I don’t want to harm your forest again.” His voice was deeper suddenly, with an edge of danger.

“What did you do to lure him in like this? Wasn’t I clear enough when I said I didn’t want any demons on my property?” Allura’s voice was still angry but strained. Like her energy levels were sinking and…what was Keith doing to her?

She was the strongest witch he knew…how was the Fire witch able to drain her energy that fast?”

“We’re not on your property any more. And I only came because of Lance. I will stop if you let me down already. I know what Demon magic does to Element witches.”

Why did he sound so calm?

There was no answer for a few seconds, then the burning heat of the Fire disappeared.

Lance broke down, coughing a bit and grimacing at how weak he suddenly felt. But he hadn’t used one inch of his powers…?

What was happening…?

But suddenly, something cool and fuzzy touched his hand and a soft “Mreoww!” reached his ears. He sighed at Blue’s cold touch and placed his hand on her back, waiting a few seconds to be able to feed on her energy then looking up as his sight was getting clear again.

How glad he was that his soul-animal, his familiar, was back again.

He saw Allura and Keith standing in front of him, both a few feet away. She had let him down from her hold and was now standing a bit away from him, her position showed that she still was wary but he didn’t see the glow of magic on her any more.

They were talking…but quieter now, words that Lance wasn’t able to understand. Still, he felt Keith’s gaze on him, a worried touch of soothing warmth between the glares he sent Allura’s way – and he surely had to talk with Allura afterwards, but he knew she wouldn’t harm the Fire witch again.

He hesitated for a few more seconds, but then got up and walked towards the two witches. The words stopped immediately, and both were looking at him as he placed his hand on Allura’s arm.

“Why did you have to attack him?”, he quietly asked. “Did you think I was in danger?” He quickly looked at how the Fire witch was slowly massaging his neck.

He probably had to look that over once they both were alone again. Not that Allura had done some serious damage to him.

Keith snorted, but Allura ignored him. “Yes, I did. I wasn’t expecting to ever see a _demon_ so close to my house again – and mostly not to see you lying on top of him when I found you both.” Her eyes burned in disappointment and Lance ducked his head as his cheeks flushed because…he didn’t want Allura to be disappointed in him. And damnit, it once again felt like it did when his mother had walked in on him the first time he had slept with a boy…

But this time, it was different.

Reluctance, almost anger, bubbled inside of him at her words, but before he could say anything stupid, he sighed, running a hand through his hair. “Look…can we talk about this later? Please?”

Allura’s eyes were like pink-blue steel as they were watching him – but then she sighed too, nodding a bit. Sending another glance towards Keith, she looked conflicted, like she was about to say something more – but then shook her head after a few seconds and started to walk back towards her home again.

A bit baffled, Lance started to follow her, quickly grabbing Keith’s hand to drag him behind.

“I still don’t want him to sleep in my house, Lance.” A pause, where both the boys tensed and waited for her to continue, Lance immediately ready to object.

She sighed, her tone getting a bit softer. “But…I know how much you missed him and I know how much he means to you. On the beach, there is a shack where you two can stay for the night. We will talk tomorrow.” Pausing for a few seconds, she seemed to think about something, stopping and turning around to look at them both – or more specifically, at Keith.

“I want to talk to you too tomorrow. Alone.” She hesitated. “I…may have been in the wrong with a few things.”

Both Lance and Keith blinked slowly, watching her as she turned and walked away again.

Then, Keith turned to look at Lance, frowning a bit. “Is that…a good sign? Or…is it good what she said?”

Lance blinked, slowly looking down on their intertwined hands. “I think so…at least she didn’t send you away again.”

He really tried to see the good side of what just happened.

“She didn’t have very good experiences with demons.” That was putting it lightly. “But I think…I think she’s trying.” A pause. “Still, I wished she would have allowed you to come into her house.”

“Hey.” Warm hands softly touched his cheeks, sharp claws only grazing the soft skin. “We’re together now, aren’t we? I…that’s more than I could have hoped for during the last weeks.” He swallowed, a smile on his lips. “I’m so happy to have you back again. I don’t care if we’re sleeping in Allura’s house, a shack or under the sky. As long as you’re with me.”

Lance smiled a bit as he looked into Keith’s purple-blue eyes, slowly leaning towards the other boy and kissing his forehead. “I feel the same... But…we still have to talk about a few things.”

Closing his eyes briefly, Keith nodded with a sigh, letting his hand sink at his side again. “You’re right…Let’s go, then.” His now pointed ears twitched a little, causing Lance to stare at them for a few seconds because damn, did that look cute.

He started walking with Blue beside him – and his eyes got big as a red cat, quite similar to Blue, appeared next to Keith, looking up at him and meowing a bit,

“You now have a familiar too?”, he asked, excitement shining in his voice.

“Huh?” Surprised, Keith looked down on the red cat, then grinned. “Yep. And she’s not only a cat…” He stretched out his arm and the red cat jumped with a strange trilling sound – but her body changed during the jump…and what landed on Keith’s arm wasn’t a cat anymore, but a small, beautiful, in all colors of the Fire shining dragon who quickly climbed to drape herself around Keith’s shoulders.

Lance flinched briefly but then stared at her with big eyes. “Whoa…”

He had never seen anything like this in his life

“She’s beautiful, isn’t she?” Pride colored Keith’s voice bright. “Her name is Red, not very original, I know…but I really love her. She’s so sweet even though she’s a demonic creature, a shape-shifter. She had already helped me through so much since my mother found her and-…uupmh!”

Lance had interrupted him with a kiss.

He stared at the Water witch as he drew back again, a puzzled look in his big eyes. “…uh?”

Lance giggled. “I’m sorry, but I had to. You looked so amazing, rambling about her.”

Keith snorted, his cheeks flushing a dark purple. “Hmpf.” Still, a small smile appeared on his face as they made their way back to the beach to the shack Allura had described to Lance.

 

The sound of ocean waves rushed through their ears, making them sleepy and simultaneously heightening their senses.

“Lance?” His voice was only a whisper.

“Hm?”

“What’re you thinking about?”

Rustling of clothes as the two bodies shifted against each other, then a content sigh as he pulled the second boy closer. “How glad I am to have you back in my arms.”

“…you’ve been staring at the sky for almost half an hour now. Is that the only thing that came to your mind?” A pause before the amused voice continued. “I’m just curious.”

“Can’t help it if there are so many beautiful stars up there that capture my eye.” A chuckle.

“Jokes aside, I…I’m really happy you’re here. Can’t say it often enough. I really missed you…but I didn’t allow myself to really think deeply about it. I…had too much to do with my training…with Allura.”

He didn’t want to tell Keith about how it had hurt so bad to only think about him. But the Fire witch still seemed to know or at least sense that what he said wasn’t really the truth – judging by how he pressed closer to the other and hid his face in the crook of his neck – which only worked because they were laying next to each other.

Keith was now bigger than Lance.

“I’m really sorry for what I did…I know I had no excuse to run away…but I still did and”, he took a deep breath.

“I really want to erase these past weeks I left you alone and go back to…before…”

There was a pause of a few seconds before the boy with the ocean-blue eyes sighed a little and carded his fingers through Keith’s hair.

“Keith, I already told you that I’ll forgive you and that I’ll give us another shot. Yep, it was selfish to just run away…but maybe it had been better that we both weren’t around each other when we were training. Maybe it…should have went like this.” He didn’t sound entirely convinced.

The black-haired witch bit his lip, his arms tightening around him. “Still. I will make it up to you.”

A soft chuckle. “And how?”

Keith lifted himself up until he was hovering over Lance, his purple eyes almost black in the cool darkness but the sharp grin with his bared fangs was still visible, glistening brightly.

“By continuing where your mentor had interrupted us before.”

And with that, he kissed the Water witch again who had no more words left to stop him.

_It wasn’t what he had wanted to do anyway_ , he decided before putting his arms around Keith’s neck.

*

With a smile, _he_ looked down on the sleeping Lance next to him.

_He_ leaned down a bit, softly kissing his forehead and letting one of _his_ fingers trail down a sunkissed, scarred arm.

This should not have happened. Lance should not lie here with those scars _he_ had caused…scars that _he_ was responsible for. His love should not have any scars at all.

_He_ sighed, laying back down again and watching the other boy’s sleeping face.

“I love you…do you know that?”, _he_ softly whispered.

But of course, there was no answer…only the sound of waves rolling against the beach.

Again, a sigh as _he_ carefully layed his hand on Lance’s cheek, _his_ thumb caressing the soft skin.

_He_ had the one thing back _he_ had always desired the most…The one person that helped _him_ through days when everything just seemed too much, too much, too much…the only person _he_ felt he was capable living for.

With a pained smile, _he_ closed his eyes again, _his_ hand still on Lance’s cheek.

The world would be okay for _him_ again if _he_ now also got Shiro back…If his brother was okay, if he somehow found the way back to _him_ and they could be together again.

Then, _his_ life would be complete again.

But of course, that was impossible.

Or was it?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, please tell me what u think!!  
> (Also, please tell me if u want a chapter with the sex scene at the beach which i left out. Just tell me and i'll look how i can include it <3)


	17. Shiro

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shiro wakes up and faces the aftermath of Keith being away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ....yes, i'm not dead. Still alive. Barely, but still alive.
> 
> I'm really sorry it took me so long to update this. I'm not abandoning it, i swear - it's just that i have so much with Uni to do rn that i barely have time to continue with any of my stories.
> 
> Even now i should have written more stuff for uni - but instead i continued 'Solo Magic' for more than three hours. Huff, what a ride.
> 
> side info for this chapter: Don't be confused. This is from Shiro's POV now (as if that wasn't already obvious after the chapter title and summary, lol) and it goes back to when Lance healed him and he now wakes up.
> 
> One of the reasons i took so long to upload this: I wanted to make his injuries as realistic as possible so i had to do some research concerning burns n stuff. I hope it kinda shows.
> 
> Enjoy the ride, my lovelies! And thanks to whoever is still there and keeping up with this hellmessofastory!

Everything hurt.

Everything was Fire, branding through his veins in flaming waves of pain, erasing his very being, taking all he once knew with it, leaving behind only the ghost of screams and tears and pain.

He had no idea how long he already was in that state.

But it was enough to doubt the fact that he even existed…but he had to, right? There were thoughts, there was the pain he could feel…so it had to mean that he had to be alive.

Seconds, minutes, hours passed by – he couldn’t tell

And slowly, surely, second by second by second, the pain went down. Bit by bit, it was replaced by soothing, icy coldness that covered him like a blanket, numbing the flaming pain. It spoke to him through his mind and allowed him to float through gentle, cold darkness, allowed him to get his mind back again, to feel more thoughts that weren’t clouded with flames and pain

It was quiet where he was.

And where was this _where he was_?

He had no idea.

But his surroundings were still covered in darkness. Darkness with a hint of blue.

He just knew that after feeling this icy coldness soothed his pain for a while, it was significantly less than before.

Not completely gone, but at least more bearable now – and the darkness started to fade from his eyes, he felt himself regaining consciousness again and

His eyes fluttered open with a groan – and the first thing he saw was blue.

Ice cold, bright blue that glowed and vibrated, dancing softly with each movement the young boy sitting in front of him made.

Wait.

A young boy? A stranger?

He blinked, trying to see who was there…was it someone he knew?

Why only was his vision so blurred?

As his vision got clearer with each second, he saw that the boy had his hands laying on Takashi’s arm, watching what he was doing with a face stiff of concentration,

Wait, no…not Takashi. Shiro.

Shiro was the name his…who gave him the name?

Right, his younger brother.

But back to the blue glowing boy at his bedside.

He was confused. He was sure he had never once in his life seen a guy like this.

What was he even doing? Why was he here?

And why did that glow surrounding him suddenly wake up some deeply locked away memories, ringing through his chest like a long-forgotten melody he finally remembered again?

His eyes widened as the boy looked over and they locked eyes.

For a moment, it was silent – the stranger’s iridescent blue glowing eyes trained on Shiro’s shocked gray ones.

He had to say something.

“Who…what…” A cough ripped from his chest, interrupting him. “Who are you…?” He wanted to ask more but it seemed like his voice was giving up on him.

What was a stranger doing here…?

Where even was _here_??

A room? A house? His room? Somewhere else?

The boy seemed like he wanted to give an answer, gulping once – but suddenly his eyes widened even more and his tanned face lost even more color as he looked behind himself.

Something akin to a curse left his mouth and he pulled his hands back, taking the icy glow and the coldness with him as his eyes turned to Shiro again and he bit his lip.

He looked – to say it lightly – deadly exhausted. Even Shiro’s still muddled mind was able to recognize this.

“You’ll live now. Don’t blame your brother for what he did to you – he couldn’t control it.” His voice was quiet and rough like sandpaper – almost like Shiro’s own – as he quickly spoke his words and retreated towards a window next to the bed the young man was lying on.

Wait…he wanted to leave?? No!

But he couldn’t answer, was just able to stare after him as he clumsily climbed outside.

Who was this guy??

And…just why?

He needed answers, damnit! What the hell did happen and from where did this guy even know Shiro?

“Wait!”, he suddenly called, wincing at how destroyed his voice sounded. He tried to get up, chase after the other, but as soon as he put weight on his right arm, tried to support himself while he was sitting up – it just gave out on him.

A surprised gasp left his lips as he crashed onto the bed again, cradling the arm to his chest and squeezing his eyes shut at the unexpected wave of dizziness crashing over him.

After a few seconds, he had regained his ability to think again and he opened his eyes to look down on his arm, a gasp escaping him at the…

At the bad state his arm was in.

It was colored partly black, partly white and red flaming skin, burnt skin and barely healed wounds that glistened with the fluids still leaking out of them and looked like they stemmed from a catastrophal fire.

He gulped, trying to move his fingers and grimacing at the weird feeling in his muscles.

Fuck, that was bad…

There wasn’t any pain. Well, at least not much – but why? His arm had been burnt. Badly. It should hurt like hell…

Why was the rest of his body not hurting any more, actually?

Maybe it was because of what the boy had done…

Screw that, it was definitely-

The opening of the door pulled him from his train of thoughts, a shout of his name followed the first sound, making him flinch. “Takashi!”

Wait…that was his name, right?

Suddenly there were people crowding the bed he was laying on, talking to him in loud voices with various shades of worry, making him wanting to sink into the mattress, to just disappear, never to be seen again.

Why were there so many people even? And why were they all talking at once?

“How are you?”

“What just happened?”

“Was there somebody in here??”

“Why are your bandages gone??”

“He looks so much better already…”

“What do you mean so much better – his wounds are all gone! Of course he’s better!”

He just wished they would stop talking like he wasn’t here.

So he squeezed his eyes shut again, took a deep breath and then tried to sit up again – and there were hands suddenly, strong and broad, carefully supporting him and helping him to get into a sitting position.

“Carefull, Takashi.” This voice, he recognized…

“Father…”, he answered, blinking to try and get his eyes to focus and map out the person in front of him.

Akira Shirogane smiled a bit shakily, the scar in his eyebrows becoming more visible as his dark brown eyes crinkled slightly. “It’s good to see you awake…and back from the brink of death. We really thought we would lose you.” He grabbed a glass of water from the small table next to Shiro’s bed. “Here, drink something – you must be dying of thirst.”

Startled, Shiro nodded a bit and leaned forward when Akira carefully placed the glass on his lips, tilting it so the young man would be able to drink.  

He hadn’t realized how dry his throat was…But now that he wasn’t feeling this calming coldness any more, it seemed like all the after effects that went with the severe burns were coming back…Was he having some kind of burn shock?

No, for that he was still feeling too well on his feet…It had to be the dehydration and the presence of so many people here.

He would get well soon enough – if he was given the opportunity to rest.

Akira didn’t hear the thoughts racing around in his head as he turned to an elder woman standing behind him whose eyes widened a fraction for getting his attention. He smiled.

“Looks like that ointment Mauve was using really did some wonders, right? I did not expect her to know so much about herbs and potions to be able to rescue my son.” He paused. “And for it to take effect so soon.”

The woman stayed silent, a frown on her face as if she would not believe him. Because…well. If the rest of his body had looked like his arm did…Shiro was sure that a simple ointment wasn’t able to fix that.

But she didn’t say anything, just nodded with a strained smile.

What would his father say if he knew that it was that blue glowing boy that saved him? That had left his room before any of the other people could see him?

For whatever reason.

But just as he wanted to tell his father about that, a shiver went through his right arm again, a dull ache that ran far too deep in his bones.

Shiro pressed his mouth in a thin line and squeezed his eyes shut in expectation of more pain, letting it go limp at his side because he knew that moving it would only make it worse.

But there was no more pain…he had expected it to hurt so much more.

He may not remember everything from what exactly had caused the burns – but he knew that wounds like this normally hurt so much more.

Akira frowned as he watched Shiro’s face change slightly, holding him by the shoulders to keep him from falling as he swayed in his place. “What is it? Did-“

He stopped himself at the sight of Shiro’s arm, his face darkening.

“Your arm still looks as bad as last night. Maybe the treatment didn’t work here.” His voice sounded concerned and Shiro wasn’t sure if that were his real emotions or just a mask to put on because of the other people around them.

Drawing in a shuddering breath, Shiro tried to object. “No, it wasn’t the-“

“Sasha! Dillon! Go and get Mauve again. She’ll be needed for another treatment.” He didn’t even look up while giving the order, just continued to look at the wounds on Shiro’s arm when two young men left the room.

They looked bad. Really bad.

There was silence in the room after the two people Akira addressed had left.

“If it won’t get better, we gonna have to amputate, Sir”, a cautious voice behind them spoke up, causing Shiro to look at his father with horror in his eyes. “No…”

It had to get better…

Right?

His father wouldn’t allow them to take his arm.

Besides, he didn’t feel any pain.

He was sure that…he would be off fine with a few weeks of treatment and medicine or whatever Mauve would have prepared for him.

Because just the thought of loosing his arm…

It made his mind blank with panic.

Silence reigned again for a few moments, father and son staring at each other before the same voice from before broke the tension again.

“Sir?” A man stepped next to Akira, looking up at him with a frown on his dark face and nervously wiping his sweaty hands at his trousers. He looked like one of the construction workers of the town…people who went out early in the morning and came back late at night, working all day to keep the people’s houses intact and the town functioning.

Akira sighed, not answering for a few moments.

“There is still a possibility that Mauve can help him. If not…I’m sorry, Takashi.”

Slowly, Shiro closed his eyes, swallowing. He was almost twenty-three now – and still he felt vulnerable like a child right now. Why even did his father decide for him?

“But…it’s not permanently…”

Akira snorted. “Even if it is not: You won’t ever be able to use that arm again!” Everyone flinched at his loud voice.

Shiro’s father took a deep breath, turning around just as an elderly woman with silver-white hair – Mauve, the woman with the most knowledge about healing potions and ointments in the town but without any ounce of magic that would have classified her as a witch – entered the room, accompanied by the two that ran out a few minutes ago.

“What is it, Sir?”, she asked with a frown.

“His arm”, he answered courtly. “You have another day to try to save it. Update me tomorrow – if the wounds aren’t better by then, you’ll have my permission to amputate.”

With that, he left the room.

Shiro stared after him, not believing what he just had said.

He barely realized the middle-aged woman – Mauve – getting to work on his arm, slathering it a very strong scented salve on the wounds while ushering the rest of the people out.

He barely felt the sting from that salve.

He barely heard her talking to him in a hushed voice.

Only when she snapped her fingers in front of his face, sighing irritatedly, did he look at her, his eyes wide.

“We’ll gonna get you okay again, Shiro, believe me.” Her smile was thin and her voice a bit strained; he wanted to believe her, he really wanted to, but…somehow, he knew he would lose his arm.

There was no way the woman could do the same in twenty-four hours what that mysterious boy had done to him in a matter of…he had no idea how long the other had been sitting at his side.

He sighed, looking around in the room briefly, then turning his gaze back to her, watching her wrapping his arm up again. “Mauve?” His voice was hesitant.

But he had to tell somebody…did he really see that boy sitting at his bedside, doing some strange business with his weirdly glowing hands that made the pain in Shiro’s body disappear?

Or was it all just a fever dream?

Technically, he knew he could trust her…The healer wasn’t someone who gave away a secret when somebody told her to keep quiet about it.

“Yes?” Dark brown eyes, surrounded by a spiderweb of crinkles, looked up to him.

“There…there was someone in here.”

She frowned, her movements stopped as her voice became slightly sharper with cautious mistrust. “Someone was here in the room? When?”

“I don’t really know anymore, but it was before father and the others came in. They left shortly before…and I…I think they did something…they healed me.” He looked down on his left hand, frowning. “Before I woke up, there was so much coldness…but it felt good. It calmed the way…I had felt like I was still burning before. And…this coldness had felt like it was…erasing the pain.” The feeling was hard to put into words and he didn’t dare to look up at the healer, instead chose to watch his non-burnt hand.

“And…when I woke up…there was this blue glow everywhere and this…I think it still was a boy…sitting next to me and he said I shouldn’t blame Keith for what happened. He wasn’t at fault.”

Suddenly, a tremor started to shake through his whole body – and he couldn’t even exactly tell why.

What exactly happened? Where…where was Keith?

“Where is he? Is…is he okay?”

Mauve bit her lip, straightening up. Her dark eyes looked around carefully, she seemed to choose her next words very carefully.

“No. He isn’t here, Takashi. I’ve seen the hunt begin…after what happened…I’m not sure. But…” She took a deep breath. “Akira seems to still be searching for him. So he seemed to have escaped him. At least for now. He may be alive, yes.”

She paused briefly, sighing. Not realizing how Shiro’s heart stopped at her words.

The hunt…? His father was searching for Keith…?

What in the name of all five Elements happened, damnit??

But Mauve continued before he had a chance to ask her.

“But…My love, are you sure you didn’t dream the first part? Because there is no way a witch could have entered the village and make it here into your room without getting noticed. And it wouldn’t went well for whoever that may have been.”

Shiro closed his eyes briefly. “But I know what I’v-“

“Sweetheart, it surely was only because you just woke up from being unconscious for a whole day and thus, your brain wasn’t at it’s full capacity. And because you got almost killed. Maybe that’s why you dreamed it – because you wanted to find an excuse for what Keith did. Because you don’t want to blame him. I know you, my love – I know you two are…have been close as brothers. But there is still no excuse for what that witch did.”

Witch?

Hold on.

Wait.

Was she talking about Keith…Was that the reason of the Fire?

Shiro frowned. “Yeah, but…what did he do? What…what happened exactly?”

Mauve was silent again, her movements ceasing but Shiro could still see that her hands were trembling.

Slightly, but still noticeable.

Finally, she sighed, shaking her head slightly and finishing up his arm. “Now, no more of that. You need to rest – I’ll check up on you in a few hours again.”

Shiro gave up. She wouldn’t tell him. And wouldn’t listen to what he had to say.

With a sigh, he eventually nodded, laying down again and turning towards the window, looking out a bit forlornly after Mauve had left with the promise of coming back a few hours later.

He really thought she would understand him.

Or at least believe him.

Listen to him.

…at least tell him what had caused this horrible Fire.

Because when he tried to remember – the last thing he saw was Keith and him sitting at the dinner table with their parents, laughing and talking to each other.

Then…there was only pain and heat.

He sighed, closing his eyes a bit. He just wished Mauve would talk to him and just tell him everything he wanted to know.

But whenever it came to the subject of witches, of magic, anything out of the normal – she turned into an angry conservative like the rest of the village.

Shiro despised their attitude – he was more than sure that there was more out there. That there were more creatures than only humans. That there had to be magic – the good and the bad kind. That there were things no one of them knew about because they had never once left the town since their birth.

He just knew he wanted to do it someday.

Wanted to leave and explore, see the world how it really was.

And now, after what happened…he knew he had another reason to.

Because his brother was gone…he was the only true reason that still kept him here. He could go and search for him. If he could believe in Mauve’s words that he was still alive.

But why wouldn’t he?

Wait…

Mauve said that she saw the hunt begin.

The townspeople only knew one kind of hunt – the hunting after those who revealed themselves to be a witch.

A magician with any kind of power that was possible.

So…if they had been hunting after Keith…that had to mean…

Pain tugged on Shiro’s chest and he swallowed heavily.

No, it was too painful to think about that now.

He sighed, closing his eyes and trying to lay down into a position that allowed him to sleep but wouldn’t jostle his arm too much. He was still too afraid to think about…what would happen tomorrow. If they really would take his arm away from him.

Although he already knew that they probably would.

He was afraid.

With these thoughts, racing around and around in his mind, he somehow managed to slip into a restless sleep.

 

The next day.

He almost was glad as the decision was made to amputate his arm…waking up in a fever with his arm burning like fire, flames licking through his thoughts and leaving no room for any reasonable way of thinking made him unable to think he could still use that arm in the future.

He didn’t know if he screamed, didn’t really even remember the whole procedure…Mauve gave him something to drink, a bitter potion he could only take about two sips of before he was retching, trying to vomit it out again, whimpering like a child because it all hurt so much.

They had to hold him down to stop his thrashing when the pain sprouted from his arm to spread through his whole body, had to keep him still until it all became too much and he finally fell unconscious.

It certainly had to be some kind of blessing for them.

The men worked fast, taking the opportunity and sawing his arm off while he was out. So much blood… It may seem cruel what they did…but what other opportunity really was there? They didn’t have another sedative than the one Mauve had given to Shiro. The one he almost completely threw up again because it just tasted so damn disgusting.

So they had to work with what they had…and while Shiro was still unconscious.

 

When Shiro opened his eyes again a few hours later, it was already over.

He blinked slowly, letting his eyes wander around the room, trying to get a coherent thought into his waddled mind but it was no use – the fog in his brain wouldn’t go away.

It was probably a few minutes later that he heard the door opening, maybe it also was a few hours, he wasn’t sure – but through the fog in his head that also seemed to clog his ears, he still recognized the voice that started to spoke when someone stopped next to the bed he was laying in.

“Ah, you’re awake, that’s good to see. How are you feeling?” Mauve’s voice was quiet as she started to check up on him, removing the thin blanket on his body and beginning to unwrap the gauzes wrapped around his right arm – or what was left of it. “Do you need something to relieve the pain?”

Shiro was only able to give her a small nod as he closed his eyes again, hissing at the dull bolt of pain through his shoulder. He didn’t want to look at the stump that once was his arm…it already was scary enough that he couldn’t feel…anything there besides pain. At all.

His arm just wasn’t there any more and it was so hard to grasp that he was a disabled person now…that he would have to live with this for the rest of his life.

Opening his eyes with a slow blink, he watched Mauve rewrapping his shoulder again, careful to watch her face and not what she was actually doing.

He wasn’t ready to face the truth.

Mind and head still foggy and tired, he fell asleep again shortly after Mauve gave him something to kill the pain.

 

A few days later, he was allowed to leave the infirmary. His mother was waiting for him in front of his room, walking next to him as they left the building and went back to Shiro’s grandparents.

He frowned slightly. Why were they not going back to their house? What happened to it? Was it harmed too in the cause of the fire?

A thought appeared in his mind.

Keith.

His younger brother.

The thought of him hadn’t left him during the last days and he just knew…he had to leave. He had to go find him…No matter what it would take.

He blinked as his mother opened the door to her parents’ home, following her inside after a few moments. Just now he realized that Hanako Shirogane had been talking to him the whole time…and he didn’t hear a single word from being too occupied with his own thoughts.

Huh.

There had been something he wanted to ask her…what was it again?

“’Kashi?”

With wide eyes, he looked over at her, blinking as he resurfaced from the muddled depths of his mind. “Huh?”

Her brows furrowed, worry evident in her soft brown eyes. “Have you been listening?”

He sighed a little. “No, I…I’m sorry, I just need some rest. I still feel pretty tired.” While that was not entirely the reason why he hadn’t listened to her, it was true that he felt like he could fall asleep at any time now.

He still wasn’t that fit…probably wouldn’t be for the next few weeks.

A smile curled her lips a bit upwards. “I’ll show you the room your grandmother prepared. Then you can sleep as long as you’d like to. Your father will only come back tomorrow.” She paused. “I’ll check on you when you wake up…you need to make sure you eat and drink enough.”

Nodding a bit numbly, Shiro followed her through a narrow hallway into a room that was only a bit bigger than the small chamber he had at home, place only for a neatly prepared bed, a desk and a wardrobe.

But it would do. It wasn’t like he would stay here any more for longer than he needed. Besides…he had lived with less.

Saying goodnight to his mother, he carefully laid on the bed as soon as he was alone. A dizzy feeling was once again spreading through his body, making him close his eyes in a sigh.

What should he do?

His arm got amputated only a few days ago. Leaving now or during the next days would absolutely not be a good idea, being in this state…He still was too weak.

But what if Keith needed him?

What if he had to leave as soon as possible – which would probably be before his father came back…

_These thoughts could wait until tomorrow_ , his brain suddenly decided as he let out a yawn, closing his eyes.

_Besides…if Keith escaped the hunt, he’ll be safe. You can rest – you need the rest. More than Keith needs you to be there for him right now._

It didn’t even take him five minutes to fall asleep.

 

_A forest._

_Trees high as the sky as they towered over him, a few birds were singing…but apart from that, it was silent._

_Deadly silent, almost._

_Where was he?_

_Confused, Shiro turned around, observing his surroundings and asking himself if he was dreaming. This wasn’t a part of the forest he knew…this was somewhere entirely else._

_His confusion only rose as he looked down on himself, startled by the absence of pain, still remembering clearly that his arm had been taken away and he still was in pain because of it._

_But his arm wasn’t missing._

_It was there again, unscarred and healthy, like it had been the case before Keith disappeared._

_He blinked._

_What?_

_This had to be a dream._

_Still, he wasn’t prepared for the pang of pain he felt when he realized that this wasn’t real._

_Suddenly, there was a noise from behind him – rustling leaves and a brench breaking under the light steps of careful feet._

_Was there anybody else aside from him…?_

_Shiro spun around, eyes wide as he called. “Who is there??”_

_A figure emerged from between the trees._

_It was Keith._

_His little brother, staring at him with burning and glowing lilac eyes that once again managed to convince Shiro that he somehow was a bit more than human._

_Keith always was…a bit more than everyone._

_Keith, Keith, Keith, Keith…._

_“Keith…?“, he called out tentatively, raising a hand and taking a few steps towards the other because he missed him so goddamn much, he needed Keith back, he had finally found him, he was safe…_

_Keith took a step back into the trees, still watching him with those burning lilac eyes and not saying a word, his facial expression neutral._

_Shiro’s brows furrowed. What…_

_Why was Keith walking away from him?_

_He tried to walk faster, but the further he walked, the more Keith stepped back – before he eventually turned and ran away._

_“No! No, Keith, please wait!”_

_But Shiro’s call was in vain as it echoed between the too big trees._

_Keith was gone._

_Again._

_Again, there was only the sounds of birds singing their songs around him – but all of a sudden, it was too loud. Too much, too much, toomuch toomuch_

_– as all of a sudden…the scenery changed._

_He was still in a forest, but it once again looked quite unfamiliar; he could hear a river calmly searching his way through the underwood, there were traces of a campfire a few feet away from him – and suddenly a voice._

_“It’s not his fault. He couldn’t control it.”_

_Wait._

_He knew that voice._

_It was that boy who…helped him…healed him even?_

_What…why?_

_His thoughts were interrupted as another voice spoke up._

_“Find me.”_

_That was Keith._

_That was definitely Keith._

_Dear Elements…what the…why were they both talking to him?_

_Was Keith with that healer?_

_Was that the reason he told Shiro to not be angry at Keith, to not blame him for what happened?_

_The young man swallowed as the two sentences started to repeat, swirl around him in a whirlwind of words, consuming his mind until the forest vanished around him and all he could hear was Keith’s voice that had dropped into a desperate whisper._

_“Find me, Shiro. I miss you.”_

 

Shiro awoke with a jolt, gasping as he looked at the ceiling of his room, breathing hard, not even realizing how his right shoulder throbbed in pain at the harsh movement.

If he wasn’t already determined to search for Keith and find him…he now was. No matter how long it would take…he would reunite with his brother again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feel free to tell me if sth seems off in this chapter or anything - i'll gladly edit it.
> 
> Also: Whoever wants to can rant in the comments about s6 - once, because i still didn't recover from that mess and twice bc i want to hear some thoughts and theories. 
> 
> <3


	18. Bad things are about to come

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shiro leaves home to start his search for Keith.  
> Keith and Lance start their journey back over the mountains, accompanied by Krolia.  
> Things happen.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> BOOOOOOM, I'M BACK, BITCHES!!!!
> 
> Anybody missed me here on this story? Idrk how regularly I'll be able to update - but I have a plan. I've made notes for all the chapters I still want to write (and boy, if this goes on as it does now, 'Solo Magic' is gonna end at a length of over 100k words whoops).
> 
> So. LEAVE A COMMENT AND SUM LOVE IF YOU LIKE IT AND PLEASE CONTINUE TO BE SUCH AMAZING PEOPLE WHO STAY WITH THIS STORY EVEN THOUGH I BARELY UPLOAD
> 
> enough talk. ENJOY THE FUN!!

_Seven weeks later_

The afternoon sun was warm on his face, birds were chirping in the otherwise silent forest as Shiro continued walking after his short break, making him close his eyes with a sigh.

He was glad he had found a place between the trees where he could rest and lay down to sleep a bit, trying to erase the exhaustion plaguing his bones.

He had been walking for hours.

This was probably the fourth day after he had left his hometown…and yet he felt like he still was no closer to Keith than the moment he had said goodbye to his mother Hanako.

But he had to find him, he knew this was his only possibility…

During the last few weeks, there had been more dreams like the one after he had been discharged from the medical cabin: him walking through a – to him unknown – forest, Keith’s voice pleading him to come and find him, the mysterious healer asking him to understand that none of what happened was Keith’s fault and both their voices blending into a chanting choir that haunted Shiro until he woke up with a heaving gasp.

And he still dreamed like this every night.

But the scenery was changing – like something in his subconscious was showing him where he needed to go.

During the last two days, he had recognized some of his surroundings…so maybe this meant that he was on the right track.

Maybe…these dreams were leading him back to Keith…back to his brother.

No one out of their family believed that he was still alive. No one wanted to believe it…no one even cared.

And even if they would believe him…no, maybe it was better they wouldn’t.

He didn’t want his father Akira to continue the search…the hunt for Keith.

By now, he knew that it was Keith who had caused the fire that had almost killed Shiro – the fire he lost his arm to.

Was he angry at Keith for doing this to him? He didn’t know.

Actually…he didn’t think it was anger that he felt…when he thought about what happened there was only one question in his mind.

_Why?_

The brothers held no grudge against each other, at least not as far as Shiro could remember. Keith had no reason to try to kill him…if he really had intended to do so like Akira and the Elders wanted to make him believe.

So…maybe the fire had happened unintentionally?

Shiro sighed while briefly stopping and leaning against a mighty, old tree, closing his eyes while memories suddenly started to flood his mind.

Keith wasn’t the first witch their town had brought out. There had been another girl before him.

The tall man bit his lip at the memory, trying to will it away but the pictures in his head were faster.

It was maybe six years before Keith’s powers were revealed…it was a better time. A time where Keith even had another friend apart from only Shiro.

Axca.

She was only a few months younger than Keith; not shy, but still quiet.

Shiro was quite fond of her. Sometimes it seemed like he had gained another sibling within her…a little sister that practically trusted him with her life.

Axca and Keith were close…close enough that Shiro’s parents were thinking they would be a couple. Even if they were only kids back then.

But during that one fateful day…during the harvest festival where most of the townspeople were gathered in the big city hall, eating, drinking and celebrating together…

It all came to a stillstand when Axca’s cup started floating in front of her.

Her gray eyes were glowing slightly as she stared at the floating cup in wonder, lifting a hand and grinning as the cup followed her movement. And as her glowing eyes turned to the plate of her mother next to her, it too started to levitate.

Shiro’s heart clenched as he remembered her awestruck expression, not taking in any of the shocked faces around her.

But then she must have felt that something was wrong because the joy on her face turned into confusion and as she looked at the people surrounding her, her eyes widened.

Axca had gained the ability of telekinesis, but she never had the opportunity to train it or even explore it some more.

After she was carried outside by the mayor’s strongest people, she began to scream – to beg, to whimper, to cry…until it suddenly cut off and Shiro knew…they had killed her.

Her screams still haunted him today.

And suddenly he was glad that Keith had been able to run away…Akira had probably killed him if the situation would have been a different one.

Shiro didn’t care that Keith was a witch now. He just wanted his brother back.

 

But now was not the time to think about old memories. He should do his everything to find Keith…to ensure that what happened to Axca would never happen to him.

Rubbing his eyes after a yawn, he pulled the dark fabric tighter around his figure while continuing his walk, wincing when it pulled at the sensitive scar tissue of his arm stump.

The amputation wound had healed quite good during the last weeks, despite the not ideal situation in the town’s medical cabin – you couldn’t really call that a hospital, if he was being honest –, there had been no infection. But the residual scars still hurt sometimes…causing Shiro more trouble than he wanted to admit.

But he’d take these pains over an infected arm stump every time.

Looking around, he stopped for a moment, his hand clutching the fabric covering his grumbling stomach.

When was the last time he had eaten something?

He didn’t know. Probably it was yesterday in the evening…

His bag was empty now.

Maybe he could be looking around for some fruits to eat?

Well, maybe he should have thought ahead a little more and not just storm out of the house after arguing with Akira again.

He sighed, continuing his walk. One could say he became a lot more like Keith during the last weeks…with how short his temper had become whenever his parents were talking badly about Keith or deciding something over his head, not giving him any say in the matter.

The relationship with his father had processed into one of tension and mistrust and Shiro would feel bad about letting it go this far – because he knew there was a time where he had loved Akira – but then he remembered Mauve’s words about how his father led the witch hunt for Keith, for his own son.

And the hate made him forget all regrets about the way their relationship had taken.

He didn’t know if he ever would return to that house again. With the way he run out after their last argument, Shiro was sure that his father wouldn’t accept him there any more.

If he ever returned, it would be to check up on his mother. She supported Shiro during the last weeks in whatever way she could, making him think about how she maybe felt bad about the way she had treated Keith sometimes – and when he ran out of the house to start his search for Keith, she followed him, saying goodbye while handing him a bag and a warm cloak.

“Make sure you stay alive until you find him”, she had whispered with a somewhat sad smile before returning to their house.

 

The hours passed, evening approached Shiro before he fully realized it.

Looking up into the sky – or the sliver of blue that was visible between the crowns of the trees – he sighed.

How long had he been walking already? How long until nightfall?

Maybe he should already search for a place to sleep.

**

_Two days earlier…_

„You two should probably leave soon…As long as you still have sunlight.”

Allura smiled as she stepped forward to hug Lance.

The Water witch chuckled a bit, leaning into her embrace slightly. “Don’t worry, we’ll leave your property soon enough and then you’ll be free of us.”

She grimaced a bit before pulling back again and holding Lance at arm’s length, looking at him with a soft but somewhat serious smile.

“Don’t say it like that. I really do hope you’ll be visiting us again. I won’t stay lonely with Pidge by my side, but I’d love to hear from you…from you and Keith.”

Her eyes briefly looked at the half-demon standing behind Lance and he smiled carefully which he returned hesitantly.

Allura and him had talked, yes, and she apologized to him about her behavior, telling him her reasons and promising that she would try to get along with him.

Keith was somewhat surprised of her words, but he chose to not question it and forgave her instead.

He didn’t have a problem with Allura…and if he was being honest, he was relieved that she agreed to try and get along with him.

Maybe he should even thank her…without her, he never would have discovered his demon side. He and Krolia never would have met…he never would have had the chance to feel what it was like to have a loving mother.

For all the bad things Allura already connected with demons…with how much she lost to them… Probably it would be good for her to see that demons weren’t always the bad guys.

Lance’s chuckle pulled him out of his thoughts.

“Don’t worry, we’ll stay in contact”, Lance assured her with a smile, patting the bag at his side. “It’s gonna be easy with the crystal sphere you gave me.”

Allura nodded. “You know what to do if you wish to contact us, then.” She paused, before smiling and bowing before him, surprising the other witches around her.

“I’m thankful you chose me to be your teacher, Lance. You have greatness within you, please remember that.” Her scarred hand came up to softly caress Lance’s cheek, her smile was soft. “Believe me when I say that you have the potential to be one of the greatest witches in history – you’re already able to do things I can only dream of.”

Lance grimaced a bit sheepishly. “Don’t be stupid.”

Allura chuckled, before her smile faded into a more serious expression. “Be careful out there, you two. I know you don’t really want to stay here anymore and want to get going, but…I have a feeling that something bad will happen. I can’t really see much of the future…but please promise me to take care of each other. Don’t get yourself into trouble…but also don’t be the cause of it.”

“We? Never. But we’ll take care of ourselves, I promise.” Lance laughed a bit and hugged her one last time before turning towards Pidge, his expression softening and his arms opening.

A smile stretched over his lips as Keith watched them both.

For a second, the two just looked at each other, before Pidge swallowed and just jumped straight into his arms, clinging onto him like for dear life and making Lance huff in exertion before he hugged her back just as tightly.

A small tiny whimper rose from Pidge’s place at his chest.

“I’ll miss you”, Keith heard her quiet voice after a few seconds, muffled by Lance’s cloak.

“You’ll don’t even know I’m away, Pidgey.” He carded his fingers through her hair softly. “Allura’s gonna keep you busy with potions and curses and you’ll learn so many new things – by the time we’ll talk to each other next time you’ll gonna be even more powerful and versatile as you already are… And I already told Allura we’ll stay in contact with our crystal spheres and…yeah. It won’t be that bad.” He smiled softly but Keith saw his glistening eyes.

He would miss Pidge, that was clear.

As they let go of each other, Lance reached under his shirt to pull out a necklace, similar to the one Pidge was wearing all the time, but this gemstone was bright blue, glowing with some soft hues of pink and green. But it was mostly blue.

The color of his magic, Keith realized.

“I don’t want you to feel lonely in case you ever really start to miss me and aren’t able to contact me…” He stepped behind her, gently hanging the pendant around her neck. “Take my crystal necklace with you. It’s uh…loaded with a fraction of my healing magic so I thought I’d…I’d leave it to you since you seem to need it more than me. I hope it will help you a bit.” He scratched his neck a bit sheepishly.

Keith crossed his arms, biting his lip as Pidge gently touched the blue gemstone next to her glowing green one. Her big eyes were teary as she looked up at Lance again.

“Thank you, Lance”, she whispered with a watery smile, rubbing at her eyes with a sniff. “It means a lot to me.”

Lance’s smile was gentle as he hugged her again. “It won’t be long until we see each other again, trust me.”

 

After a final goodbye – and Allura imploring them to take care of themselves and be careful of where they went –, Lance and Keith plus their respective familiars left Allura’s property, taking the way through the dark green meadows, sometimes spotting one of the wild horses peacefully grazing until they reached the first trees of the forest.

“Where are we even heading, Lance?”, Keith asked, gently squeezing Lance’s hand he was holding. Not that he cared really much, he didn’t have much left besides Lance and Red. Whereever they were, he would be.

But for a start…it would be nice to know about a direction.

Lance stopped for a minute, thinking a bit while scratching the fur of the blue cat that was draped around his shoulders.

It made Keith think about how fond of him Lance’s familiar still was and he smiled at Blue’s pleased purr.

“Hm…I’ve thought about going back to the shack I’ve lived in before I went to visit Pidge and started this whole adventure. But…” He took a look at Keith, smiling softly. “We can go whereever you want, Keith. My home now is with you.”

Keith swallowed, unable to say a thing for a few seconds before he shook his head with a smile, walking up to Lance and carefully putting his arms around his waist. “Funny that I just had the same thought. I don’t really care where we end up, I just want to be with you.”

They kissed briefly, a shudder running through Keith at the sensation. He would never get enough of Lance’s lips.

The Water witch giggled, placing his hands on Keith’s chest. “Well, then let’s see where we can find a home. For now, I’d say we’ll get on the other side of the mountains again.” His finger touched Keith’s nose briefly. “What a good thing that you’re now able to switch between your human and your demon skin.”

Keith’s brows furrowed but he had to admit that Lance was right. Going back into civilization while being all purple and demon-y and having claws that by now could slice through meat like a hot knife through butter? Not a very good idea.

He sighed as they continued their walk.

He had already made that one mistake on the morning he had woken up to find Red lying on his chest.

It had ended with him getting quite beat up as he had looked for a few new clothes to wear…he had eventually found something after they let him go again but it still taught him his lesson.

Krolia couldn’t help him much during the last few days. She stayed away from Allura’s property, respected the witch’s boundaries and told Keith she would wait for him in the forest.

That had been shortly before Lance found him on that clearing.

And Keith didn’t want to admit it to himself…but he kind of missed her steady presence, even if he and Lance had been…occupied during the last days.

As they now entered the forest, Keith could see her coming closer through the trees, smiling at him as she saw them both. Her long, black hair was cut short by now.

Keith sighed a little in relief, softly squeezing Lance’s hand.

Funny what level of trust he had already built during the training with her.

 

How long had they been walking now…Five hours? Six? Seven? He didn't know. He and Lance had been eating some fruits, talking with each other while they kept on walking and if he was honest, Keith completely forgot about the hours that passed.

But now, Krolia finally deemed it enough for them both, making them admit that they needed to stop.

The sun had gone down long ago anyways.

"Keith", she told him. He ignored her for another few minutes before she sighed, a frown on her face.

She even looked a bit worried.

"Keith. You two need to rest for a bit. You’ve been walking for quite some time now. Don’t answer back – just come with me once I’ve found a good resting place for you two."

He barely nodded and watched her disappearing into the trees.

And even though he didn't really want to admit it…it was probably time for them to sleep. He was getting quite tired so he stopped to stretch and yawn wholeheartedly.

Lance turned to look at him, his arms crossed. "Okay, so will you now tell me who was walking with us the whole time?"

Keith stopped mid-yawn, looking at him in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"I'm not stupid, Keith, by now i can sense magical creatures when they're around me - and there is someone here who had been following us since we left Allura’s property but I can't see them." He paused. "It's nobody with bad intentions…right?", he asked, his voice suddenly small.

Oh, he couldn’t see Krolia?

Keith’s brows furrowed.

"If she had bad intentions, she probably already would have acted on them", he mumbled, shaking his head when Lance narrowed his eyes.

"She doesn't have bad intentions, Lance, you don't have to worry." He took a step forward, placing his hands on Lance's hips. "It’s my mother. She’s the one wo is walking with us. I’ve told you that I met her shortly after I ran away and I trained with her…and she wanted to come with me once I was ready…ready to see you again. She had been waiting for me during the last days while I was with you on Allura's property - she wanted to respect the boundaries that would keep demons away."

"And…why can't I see her then? Allura didn't tell me that demons could also make themselves invisible."

“Demons are invisible if they choose to not be seen. It only works on non-demon creatures, but I’m a bit surprised though…anyways, I think she wasn't sure if you'd wanted to meet her yet…or maybe she just wants to watch a bit, get to know you before she chooses to show herself." He snorted briefly.

Lance sighed, looking at the red glowing scale hanging around Keith's neck – it had come off of Red during one of the sheddings of her dragon form – and played with it a bit. "But i want to meet her. I know…like…Allura told me so much about how demons are so bad, how they practically do nothing but well…killing witches, people, and animals - but your mother…she isn't that way, right? _You_ aren’t that way. I mean you can have one hell of a temper, but in general…you’re one of the sweetest persons I’ve ever met. And if it’s _your_ mother…" He smiled, blushing a little bit.

Keith smiled with a small giggle. “I’m really not…but thanks for thinking of me this highly.”

He gently pulled the other witch to his chest, mindful of Blue resting on Lance's shoulders while Red slowly walked around them both in her lioness form. "I think…Krolia can be quite a monster if she wants to. But she chose to not be a mindless follower of Zarkon's empire like the rest of her peers did."

Lance cuddled into him softly. "I really like to get to know her. But…I'm also okay if it will take some more time."

 

They had just put everything around the campfire, getting ready to rest and sleep when Keith's head shot up.

He heard something.

There was noise. Noise of two or more creatures walking through the bushes, not very far away of them.

He felt something.

Unease, the smell of rotten eggs crawling under his skin like a harbinger of the tragedy that was about to happen. The feeling of death being near.

What was that?

He slowly stood up, turning towards Krolia to ask her what this was – but she was already on her feet, her ears pointed towards the source of noise.

With a curse, her eyes started to glow even brighter, as well as the few scales on her skin.

“Demons”, she hissed quietly.

Keith threw a quick glance at Lance who was standing again, ice forming in his right hand while his eyes were trained on a point behind Keith. Right, he told him that he was able to sense magical creatures…

But he didn’t get a chance to speak with him before Krolia addressed him again.

"Keith, come with me. We have to get rid of them before they reach any part of civilization." She paused, quickly looking at Lance before disappearing between the trees.

"Lance, wait here. We'll be right back."

"I'm not gonna wait here like a damsel in distress, Keith. If you’re going to take them down, I'll come with you." He paused. “I just…know that these are the uh…bad guys.”

Keith almost had to snort.

With two steps, he was at his side, his eyes burning amber and his voice growling with demonic power. He cupped Lance's face in his hands, holding his gaze. "Please just do what I ask you to. This once, please", he pleaded. "I'll tell you more later…but please let me and Mum handle this." He paused, his gaze landing on his red lion. "Red will stay with you - she'll know if I'm in danger and you’ll need to play hero."

Red growled a little, her fiery fur bristling in protest but with another hard stare and a plea to please keep Lance safe, she settled again even if Keith still felt her reluctance.

She would do everything he asked her to…even if she maybe wasn’t quite okay with it.

The Water witch sighed but lowered his ice-covered hands, the daggers melting back into water that dripped to the ground.

He looked defeated. Defeated and afraid.

"I'm not going to leave you, Lance. I’ll come back." He leaned forward and captured Lance's lips in a kiss, both their powers colliding again briefly before Keith drew back, baring his lips in a sharp-fanged smile before turning around and following his mother.

 

It was a group of six.

Six demons…or creatures, or whatever were walking through the trees, only a few dozen feet away from them. They kept on pushing and hitting each other but managed to mantain a certain direction…a direction which would lead them directly towards civilisation.

They had dark lilac skin like Krolia, but it was littered with scars, marks and black paint, their ears were pointed like Keith's but much longer; one even had a piece of their ear missing.

And they were wearing armor.

Breastplates, shields, swords and sharp claws like all demons seemed to have…

"It seems like they aren't magically gifted", Krolia whispered next to him.

"Why?"

"They wouldn't need to rely on weapons if they were." That…maybe would explain why they hadn’t sensed Krolia and him by now.

His mother stopped talking as she heard the demons talk with each other.

At least Keith assumed they were…it was a hissing and somewhat gurgling language he didn't understand.

But Krolia did, apparently.

She was staring at them while listening with her ears pointed forwards, her shadow wings disappearing into her back. Her body was decorated with black markings similar to the demons out there – but from what Keith could see, hers were much more intricate.

He frowned as he saw how her eyes widened.

What did they say?

"Get ready to take them out", she whispered suddenly before he had a chance to ask. "They shall not live another day to enter a city full of humans."

With that, she jumped into the fight, purple flames erupting from her hands and her eyes blazing firestorms as she bared her sharpened fangs in a growl.

Keith took a deep breath and followed her a moment later, feeling the beast inside of him roar to the surface, making his limbs faster, his claws sharper and his Fire hotter.

It didn't even take them ten minutes to take them all out.

 

Keith was breathing fast by the time the last of them was laying dead to his feet, the strength in his limbs fading while he had to use a lot of the force he still had left to stomp down the demonic beast inside of him.

It had allowed him to take out the four demons pretty quickly – not that they had been able to put up much of a fight against both their magic forces combined.

But now it wanted even more blood and that was something Keith couldn't allow himself.

He was also glad Lance wasn’t here to see him…he didn't want Lance to see how he was fighting. Didn't want him to know what…what beast he was dating.

But…didn’t he already know?

Krolia ripped him out of his thoughts again as she walked past him, wiping off the red-lilac blood of her face. "Let’s head back. And let your mate look over your arm once – that one blow had hit you quite hard.”

His eyes widened, a purple blush spreading over his face at the choice of her words. Did she mean Lance?

He just ignored the throbbing pain in his arm.

"M-my what?? We're not mates, Mum, we're boyfriends!"

She looked at him a bit surprised, blinking for a moment while the black marks on her body faded away again. _I haven't called her Mum very much if she's that surprised by it…_

But then the embarrassment took over again as she grinned. "I think i'll have to have another talk with you about that. When a demon falls in love…things are a bit different than with humans, Keith." With that, she walked away again.

Keith grumbled but followed her, looking down on his arm.

A gaping wound stretched across his upper arm, so deep that it almost looked like he had an entire chunk of meat ripped out of his arm.

He wondered why he didn't feel it before.

But now it hurt like hell…how was he even still able to walk.

Adrenaline, maybe.

Red's worried howl already greeted him before he arrived back at their small camp, covered in red-lilac blood, the smell of death clinging to his skin.

Lance jumped up as he saw him, quickly coming over and leading him to the fire, urging him to sit down without a word. Blue looked up at him, a little, worried "meoww!" escaping her.

Keith smiled a little, cooing at Blue to calm her down again even if the pain was making him dizzy.

"Red, make sure he recharges again", Krolia's voice ordered quietly from a few feet away were she was leaning against a tree, watching them.

She didn’t seem to be hurt – which made sense because unlike Keith, she was experienced with fighting.

At least he assumed she would be. 

The big lioness nodded, walking over to Keith and laying down again behind his back so he could lean back on her - before she started to radiate warm, comforting heat and made Keith sigh and close his eyes in bliss.

Yes, he had indeed used up a bit of his power…or maybe it was just the exhaustion of letting his demonic side take over. Leave the control to the beast inside of him.

He didn't open his eyes again until he felt ice cold hands touching his arm, right where the painfully deep slash was bleeding through his shirt. He flinched at the contact on his now almost burning skin, looking at Lance who bit his lip a bit.

"This is gonna hurt…I'm sorry for that." His voice was quiet, and his brightly glowing eyes closed again before the bright blue magic essence seeped out of his fingers, making Keith hiss out as it touched his burning skin.

He expected pain because he knew that when Lance was healing, he – or his magic – was essentially stitching the broken, cut, ripped or burned tissue back together or renewing it and that was quite painful before it got better.

But the only thing he felt was his Fire magic roaring at the contact with its counterpart, sending changing waves of heat and coldness through his veins and making him gasp and shiver through the process. He felt his muscles moving under Lance’s hands, but there was no pain.

Was it because he and Lance were kind of bonded together?

It only lasted for a few minutes until Lance let go of his arm again to look at him with watery glowing eyes, swallowing before he started to speak.

"You said you would be back in no time.” His voice was barely above a whisper. "You…Red was getting so antsy moments before you came back and I already assumed the worst…" He took a deep breath, interrupting himself.

"Lance…Lance. Hey", he cooed softly, lifting his uninjured arm and cupping his cheek with it. "Babe, i'm okay. I'm alright. The fighting drained me, yes, but I'm okay now." They kissed softly. "I'll always be with you by my side, with you keeping me sane."

The kiss lasted for a few more seconds before Lance drew back again, looking at him with sparkles in his deep blue eyes. They still glistened a bit so Keith started to draw circles on his cheek with his thumb, hoping to make him smile again.

“You’re the one that keeps me whole, Keith”, he whispered, leaning into his touch. “I’m so glad nothing major happened to you.” 

 

 

The Water witch was already sleeping when Krolia sat down on the fire next to Keith, her wings blending in with the shadows behind them, a frown on her face while she was staring into the flames.

He turned to face her after a few seconds of silence, his brows furrowing. "You look worried."

"I am. I didn't expect to meet other demons here…they weren't magically gifted, which means they normally shouldn't be able to pass the veil between the worlds." She paused. “They shouldn’t be here.”

"Do you think something important happened?"

“I don’t only think so…I know it.”

But she didn’t elaborate on her words, just sighed and looked at him with her glowing purple eyes before scooting a bit closer and gently placing a clawed hand on his cheek.

He closed his eyes, leaning into the touch a bit.

It still felt…foreign to let her touch him so gently, but maybe he just had to get used to it. Krolia was a lot more human-like than he ever would have imagined a demoness to be…not that he really thought about it that much.

Maybe…maybe it was good to have a mother who cared. Who cared and still could teach him so many more things. 

"We have to be careful, Keith", she whispered. "Something big happened in the realms of Hell…we're probably going to meet more demons very soon. We’re gonna have to fight them. We're gonna have to fight more soldiers of Zarkon's army."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please let me know what you think, I'm kind of nervous about this one since it's 1. so long and 2. I just don't know haha...
> 
> <33


	19. Reunion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keith and Shiro reunite again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It seems like either I don't have many readers left on this story or not everyone saw that I updated bc after posting the last chapter, I deleted the previous one with my announcement of going on a hiatus almost immediately afterward...  
> Hope it's the second one.
> 
> Either way...enjoy! (might edit this tomorrow or in a few days again but for now...I'm just...nah - not today)  
> (I'm also quite exhausted and need to sleep)
> 
> EDIT: finally edited this now and corrected the misspellings and some other issues! If you still find some - welp, English is still only my second language so I'm sorry for that, haha.  
> Also: I'm happy this story still has readers even if it's hotdamnasmessyasitcanget! Love you all! <3

The days passed and their first encounter with demons…did not remain the only one.

More patrols crossed their way, more demons they had to eliminate, and Keith was getting more worried with each and every one.

He didn’t want to kill.

He didn’t want to give in to the beast inside of him…but he didn’t have much of a choice. These demons couldn’t stay alive.

But after the second or third patrol…they seemed to have realized that there was someone who had killed all their previous patrols - because they stroke back.

While they were sleeping.

Luckily, Krolia was able to take them down before any of them could get hurt. Lance had gotten quite a scare when he woke up to her removing away the dead bodies - but other than that, they were okay.

 

After that, it wasn’t always Krolia and Keith who attacked the demons.

More than once, Lance took over, sneaking into the fight with Keith’s familiar at his side who was changed into a black-red striped tigress with mighty, impressive fangs.

(It was impressive – normally, a familiar wouldn’t leave their witch’s side for another witch, but Keith and Lance seemed to be connected so strongly that their familiars started to protect them both, not only their respective witch. By now, Red was also starting to form a bond with Lance, enabling him to communicate with her – and be efficient enough during the fight to take down a patrol of seven demons.

Allura would be proud of him.)

Still, Krolia was getting more worried every day, with every word she heard the demon warriors speak with each other. Even though she tried to not show it that openly, Keith still saw it. He asked her, wanted to know what they had said, but she didn’t tell him anything.

He was getting frustrated.

Something was happening…But he didn’t know what.

 

Keith had no idea how much time had passed since their last fight. Time seemed to fly so fast during their days in the forest.

The sun had already set, and Lance was curled up next to their campfire, his dark blue cloak spread over him like a blanket. Blue had curled up next to his head, curled up into a ball and purring quietly in her sleep.

Red was lying next to Keith who was sitting against a tree, her body a big, red lioness – the form she seemed to prefer when they were resting. She emitted glorious warmth, waves of flickering flames branding over her red fur and Keith sighed as he petted her, taking in the much-needed energy.

He sighed while looking out into the darkness of the forest, listening for suspicious noises. He didn’t want another patrol to surprise them while they were resting and Krolia had asked him to take watch while she was disappearing between the trees, ignoring Keith’s questions about where she wanted to go.

Looking back towards the campfire, he smiled a bit as he watched Lance in his sleep, a warmth fluttering in his chest that had nothing to do with Red's body behind him.

He would do everything to keep the younger witch safe.

His head snapped towards the bushes as he heard movement, leaves rustling and branches snapping under the weight of careful steps - and there was the sound of something heavy being dragged over the ground.

“Keith.” Her call of his name echoed slightly between the trees, making him stand up, his brows furrowing.

What happened?

The demoness emerged from under the trees, her glowing purple eyes searching around until they locked with Keith’s, her expression serious yet still calm.

She was carrying someone…holding an arm slung around her shoulder while she held them upright with her arm around their waist.

For a moment, Keith was confused – and also worried. He didn’t hear sounds of a fight – but what if she found someone who had survived the encounter with one of Zarkon’s demons?

But Krolia wouldn't just bring a random person to their small camp, even if they were injured...

He moved to stand up – as suddenly the shadows warbling around Krolia and the person she was holding drew back and revealed a man Keith just knew all too well.

He froze, his eyes wide and round.

No.

No.

This couldn’t be true.

He thought he was dead…

Damnit, he saw it with his own eyes! This was too good to be true.

No.

“Shiro…”, he whispered as he ran over to where his mother had stopped.

His knees broke away under him and he went down with the other as his mother carefully lowered Shiro’s lifeless body to the floor.

Keith wasn’t able to bring out a word. A shaking hand raised and carefully touched his brother’s face, coughing out a sob as he realized it was really him.

His brother.

His brother who he thought had been killed by the first and sudden outburst of his magic.

It was really him...

But like Lance, he had been changed through the magic fire.

His eyes trailed down the other’s body, then closed in pain as he saw the other’s missing limb and all the scars, the evidence of what he, the Demon Fire witch, had done to them both.

There wasn’t much hair left on his head and it would probably take a long time until it started growing again…if he even would get it back.

And to add to that…Shiro lost his right arm.

There was only a stump of flesh left at his shoulder, the scar tissue so thick and gnarly that it hurt Keith to just look at it.

A lump sat in his throat and he gave in to his desire to cry.

Why did Shiro still…why was he here? For what Keith had done to him…he deserved all the disappointment, anger, wrath, all the negative feelings Shiro could possibly have for him – he would totally deserve them.

Why did he still leave their home? Was he…was he searching for him? Didn’t he hate Keith by now?

Burying his face in his hands while he sobbed quietly, he didn’t notice Krolia’s hand at first until she was squeezing his shoulder lightly. With red-rimmed eyes, he looked up, hot tears trailing down his cheeks because of _Shiro, Shiro, Shiro…_

“Don’t worry, Keith”, she quietly said. Looking down on Shiro, she sighed with a small smile. “He’s alive. He’s alive and well and he’s gone so far to find you, Keith. So far away from home to be with you again. He could never hate you. Believe me on that.”

“But…me…I…his arm…”

Krolia shook her head, shushing him gently. “It’s all okay, we will talk about that at another time. Don’t worry. For now, the two of you should sleep and tomorrow, he’ll need some nutrients and water. After that, you can talk.” She leaned forward to gently kiss his forehead and Keith swallowed, leaning forward to hug her before she could pull back again.

A little questioning sound followed his action.

“I just…” He sighed. “I have a feeling that you have something to do with him being here. I’ve missed him so much and I wondered if I would ever see him again…so…thank you for that.”

Krolia smiled softly before she leaned forward to hug Keith properly. “No need to thank me, Keith. I’ll do what I can if it means I can make you feel better.”

 

The morning mist was dulling the few sunrays reaching down between the trees as Keith’s eyes slowly opened from a restless slumber. He yawned, stretching a bit and concentrating to let more Fire warm his stiff limbs. It had been quite cold during the night.

But as he turned around again, his whole body froze again, his eyes wide open.

_It wasn’t just a dream._

Shiro was lying here, next to him, unscathed (mostly), alive, his eyes closed in slumber, his chest rising in deep breaths…

Keith’s breath felt like it was caught in his chest. He almost didn’t want to believe his eyes, didn’t want to believe that his…that Shiro really was here, next to him.

He sat up slowly, looking towards the fire briefly where Lance was already sitting and playing with Blue.

The Water witch looked over at him with a smile that was partly relieved, partly sad.

“I’ve already looked him over while you were sleeping. He’s okay, the few scratches he had I was able to heal and also partly his signs of starvation.” He hesitated, looking down on his hands. “I hadn’t been able to save his arm, Keith. My powers were almost completely drained and had I stayed for any longer, I would have been caught…I'm so sorry...”

Before he could say another word, Keith stood up and walked over to the fire, crouching in front of Lance to kiss him gently and shut him up.

“Lance, without you he wouldn’t even be alive anymore.” He drew back to look at the Water-witch with an intense look of seriousness in burning purple eyes. “I’ve said it once, I’ll gladly say it again…I owe you so much for saving him. So damn much.” He kissed him again.

Lance smiled a bit against his lips, briefly caressing his cheek with a tender hand before he drew back again, his eyes wandering to a point behind Keith. “He’s waking up”, he whispered. “I’ll take a walk with Blue and Red, those two seemed so keen on showing me something.”

Keith looked at his familiar and he nodded a bit, tears welling up in his eyes as he felt Red’s warm purring in his mind, reassuring him that everything would be alright, everything was fine now that Shiro was back with him.

“Yeah…I think I’ll…catch up a bit with him.” He paused. "Thank you."

"Nothing to thank me for, babe."

 

“Keith?”, Shiro rasped as the Fire witch sat down next to him again. He lifted his left hand towards Keith’s face and the younger took it carefully, smiling with tears in his eyes. “You found me.”

Shiro stared at him with big eyes, his expression showing pure awe and disbelief.

With all the power he had still left in him, he sat up and pulled the younger boy to his chest before they both fell to the ground again with one pained and one surprised groan.

“Keith…oh, Keith, I thought I’d never find you.” Shiro spoke into his inky-black hair. His shaking voice, his arm around his shoulders, his presence in every single one of Keith’s heightened senses and everything was so much _Shiro, Shiro, Shiro_ that it made a sob fall from Keith’s lips.

He buried his face into the other’s chest as tears started to drip from his eyes.

“I thought you were dead”, he sobbed. “I’m so sorry, Shiro, I’m s-so deeply sorry, I…I never wanted to hurt you this bad…I never…I never intended to do this…I’m so damn sorry…”

He pressed himself closer against the older, burying his face in his neck while hiccups and cries continued to shake his body.

It all was coming down on him suddenly.

The elder held him close as he let his own tears drop into Keith's hair, both of them shaking with sobs and holding each other close.

After a while, Shiro must have calmed down a little because he drew in a shuddering breath and started combing through strands of matted black hair, drawing circles on Keith's upper back helping him to calm down too.

“Keith, it’s okay. I’m here. I’m alive…and I…I know. It’s okay.” A soft pair of lips pressed a kiss to Keith’s head and for a few minutes, the brothers just laid in silence, Shiro’s hand never ceasing her movements through Keith’s hair until the tears finally stopped.

Until Shiro broke it again.

“Though I have to admit it’s kind of impractical to only have one arm left.”

Keith flinched a bit, followed by a grimace while he sat up again. “I’m-“

“Don’t say ‘you’re sorry’ anymore, Keith”, Shiro sighed, dragging his fingers over his face. “I know that. Yes, it’s not that great to only have one arm left but I’m kind of…okay with it by now? At least I’m still alive…and I found you. That’s the thing I’m most happy about.” A small smile touched his lips and his gray eyes were so full of contentment and love that Keith had to look away.

Damn…he didn’t deserve any of this.

Again, silence for a few more minutes, chirping birds the only sounds around them.

Then Shiro sat up too with a groan, looking towards the low burning campfire. “I’ve heard you talking to somebody when I woke up…And I’ve felt something a bit earlier. Something…cold and there was so much blue?” His brows furrowed a bit.

Then he looked at Keith again, his head tilted curiously.

“You’re not alone here, right? You’re with the Healer.”

“The who?” Keith blinked at him in confusion – until it dawned on him that he must mean Lance.

“Oh…oh, you mean Lance. Yeah…yeah, we’re walking together.” A small, unintentional smile appeared on his lips, his cheeks faintly blushing.

Shiro grinned a bit, he shifted to find a more comfortable position to sit while he propped his chin in his hand. “Oh? Tell me about him. How did you meet him? You guys seem to know each other for some time.” _And you look like there is so much more I need to know_ , his eyes told Keith.

He blushed harder.

“You could say that…” Keith played with his fingers a bit, thinking about where to start.

What should he tell Shiro about Lance? The Water witch he fell in love with? The one he left when he found out about his demon heritage, who he left when he did the same thing to him that he did to Shiro?

The demon energy inside of him growled quietly.

Keith stomped it down with determination before he curled his arms around his knees, staring off into the distance. Distantly, he heard leaves rustling under careful steps and he knew that Krolia had emerged from the trees and it gave him the courage to start speaking again.

“Lance is an Element witch like me, a Water witch. He’s capable of healing next to controlling every form of Water around us…and well, he’s the one who came back to look after you... after I had been chased away.” With a smile, he looked back at Shiro again. “He brought you back from the dead if you could say so.

“Working with his magic isn’t quite easy for him, still.” He took a deep breath. “He told me that I was the second witch he had ever encountered in his life…Pidge, a Forest witch he met a bit earlier, is the first one. I met them shortly after the…after the hunt and after everything had happened and Father and the others were chasing me out of town…I broke my ankle and he healed me. And…they invited me to go with them on their journey.”

“Journey?”, Shiro asked, his eyes never leaving Keith’s. One of his eyebrows was lifted. “You meet two strangers and so quickly decide to go with them?”

“Well, they gave me more reasons to trust them than the people who I had been living with for my whole life”, Keith mumbled. “They had powers like me, they were capable of controlling an Element, Shiro. Yes, I’ve never met them before but I just… _knew_ I could trust them.”

The elder sighed, raising his hand in surrender. “You might have a point with that, I’m sorry.”

Keith huffed, placing his chin on his knees. “Anyway, we…we walked to cross the mountains because we wanted to meet a witch called Allura, she should teach Lance more about controlling his Element. And…now we just started to head back again.”

Silence while Shiro was nodding at his words, trying to process everything.

“Can you maybe…show me what you’re capable of?” Shiro’s voice had gone quiet, but his tone was curious.

Keith’s brows furrowed as he looked up at his elder brother. “I can create Fire. Don’t you remember?”

He didn’t really want to remind Shiro of how he almost killed him, but…

“I do, Keith. Believe me, I do. But uh…I still have a feeling that there’s more to that.”

His gray eyes were deep and serious and suddenly Keith felt like he wasn’t necessarily talking about his Element powers anymore.

He hesitated. Did he really want to show this part of himself to Shiro?

It still felt so raw, so new, so destructive, evil and unknown…all that energy inside of him and he didn’t know where to go with it.

“Do you really want me to show that to you?”

“I beg you to.”

So he sighed in resignation, stretching out his arm and concentrating until purple flames started to lick at his fingers. They felt warm, gentle, but full of raw demonic energy that easily could get out of control would Keith let it get out of his grasp.

Something he didn’t plan on doing.

Shiro stared at the flames, not speaking for a few seconds.

Then:

“Why are they purple?”

Keith hesitated, drawing his arm back again. “Shiro, I…when we arrived at Allura’s house, I’ve discovered something about myself. Something…bad.”

“What do you mean?”

“You see…witches are not the only supernatural beings in this world.” He stood up before stepping a bit away from Shiro. He wished Red would be by his side…but in the next second, he saw Krolia stepping closer to them, her shadowy wings feathering out behind her, a smile on her face as she nodded faintly.

“You can do this”, she whispered.

And it was enough for him to calm down and to be able to let his human skin fall, revealing his inner demon.

He was scared of Shiro’s reaction.

His eyes were glowing amber as he looked down on his brother again, now from a higher perspective since his demon form was almost a head bigger than his human form.

Shiro’s eyes went wide at the transformation, he tumbled back with a gasp. Keith couldn’t read the emotions in his eyes, but he was sure that he had to look scary for someone who had never seen a demon before.

He surely was frightening.

And Shiro being afraid of him…that hurt.

“I’m a half-demon, Shiro”, he whispered, changing back into his human form and sitting in front of Shiro again. “My mother…my mother is a demon who left me at your home for our…your parents to raise me.”

His brother still stared at him with big eyes until he seemed to have caught himself again after a few moments and shook his head a little bit. Now, Keith thought he saw something akin to awe in his eyes.

How could someone be in awe about seeing him in his demon form?

He wasn’t someone to be marveled at.

The awe in Shiro’s eyes made a long-lost memory of his once best friend Axca resurface…the moment she discovered her witchcraft.

The moment that sealed her fate.

He stomped the memory down with everything he had before it could affect him.

“I always knew there was more than we knew out there”, Shiro mumbled, more to himself than to Keith.

“So…you’re not afraid of me?”, Keith asked anxiously.

“Why would I be?” Shiro smiled. “Sure, you’ve given me quite a scare with how you suddenly transformed yourself and you do look quite frightening – but I won’t be afraid of you, Keith. Never. You’re still you – no matter how you look.”

He paused a bit. “I’ve always had a feeling you were different…I think a lot of our people have. But…It didn’t really matter to me. To me, you’ll always be my little brother and as such, I will always love you. I don’t care if we have different parents. I don’t care that you’re not fully human. You’ve always been and will always be ”

Keith gaped at him. “You…”

Shiro grinned. “What? Cat got your tongue?”

The Fire witch practically threw himself at him, throwing his arms around his neck and making them both fall to the ground again.

“I’ve missed you so much, you moron, you have no idea.”

Shiro laughed before hugging him back and burying his face in his shoulder. “I missed you too, Keith.”

 

It was late at night by now.

They were all settled to sleep, Keith next to Lance, Shiro on his other side. The Water witch and the elder were sound-asleep.

But he couldn’t sleep. Again.

He sighed and sat up, looking at the fire and concentrating a bit to reignite it again before standing up and stretching.

“You know you need rest, Keith”, Krolia softly chided from the other side of the fire. “Why don’t you sleep?”

He flinched at her voice, his ears twitching a little. “I can’t…so much happened today and…what if I’m still scared…Mum? Scared that they will come and…just get them?”

Slowly, he walked to sit next to her.

She smiled a bit, ribbons of purple flames dancing on her fingers before jumping into the campfire. “You’re strong, Keith. You and Lance both are. And you’ve proven that you have what it needs to take down a patrol of demons. They won’t be able to just get your brother without you noticing. They won’t be able to take him and your mate away from you.”

Keith didn’t know how she could be so sure about that. “I don’t know…” Then a word she used struck him again and he looked up at her with wide eyes and purple burning cheeks. “Why do you always call Lance my mate? I’m his boyfriend!”

A grin spread over Krolia’s features, smoothing out a few worry creases in her purple skin. “Oh, I assumed he would be your mate – because of the way how closely bonded you two are by now. Demons don’t make boyfriends, Keith, they mate…but I’ll tell you more about it some other time. It’s really late by now and you need your rest.” Gently, she kissed his forehead, making him pout.

“You already said you would explain it to me after the first demon patrol we took out.”

“Yeah, but now isn’t that much of a good time either. I’ll tell you everything you need and want to know, don’t worry.”

Keith sighed as he stood up. “Okay…” He looked around to search for his familiar but frowned when he couldn’t see Red anywhere.

“Red?”

He reached out to gently tug on the bond connecting him with the small shape-shifting creature.

A wave of happy and warm emotions rushed through his chest, at the same time as he heard an eagle’s cry resonating through the air.

With wide eyes, he looked up – and yes, there was an eagle flying downwards towards him, deftly weaving through the branches to land on Krolia’s outstretched arm.

Her feathers were colored in all shades of Fire, her eyes black and shiny as she made eye contact with him and chirruped softly.

He giggled, slowly walking towards Krolia again to softly pet Red’s head. “How cool that you can also turn into an eagle now. “ _You look so beautiful_ , he thought, enjoying the happy trilling sounds she made before nibbling at his finger.

Krolia smiled. “She looks amazing. It won’t take long until she learns how to turn into each creature of the forest.”

“You think?”

That would be so cool.

“I do. Red is quite smart and changing only between feline skins and her dragon form seemed to have bored her which is why she wanted to try out something new.” She shook her head a bit. “But now you need to rest. Go to sleep, Keith.”

With reluctance, Keith obeyed her.

A few minutes later, Red joined him as a black and red cat curled up next to his head.

“I’m so glad I don’t have to be in this alone”, he whispered into her fur before sleep swept him away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Leave me some kudos n comments to show your love! <3


	20. As many times as it takes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance and Shiro have a little talk.  
> Keith fights too much and Lance has to save him...again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I...hate myself. I'M SO SORRY FOR NOT UPLOADING FOR THIS LONG!!!   
> But...it feels like I've lost interest in this story. Maybe it's readable...in that case, I'm very sorry.  
> I will finish it...but for one or the other, it will probably feel like how they've felt after S8. I'm just...idk. Too eager to start writing my Own Character Version of this...  
> I'm sorry if the quality keeps decreasing with every chapter.
> 
> I feel like I've failed myself.

So far, they were lucky with how things were going.

No demons, no one to disturb their way. Enough places to rest, enough safe spots for them to settle down when they needed to.

Still – Lance couldn’t shake off the bad feeling in his bones. The feeling that something would happen soon if he didn’t pay attention.

If he wasn’t aware enough.

He sighed as he was walking behind Shiro and Keith, Blue on his shoulder and Red walking next to him in her lion skin, occasionally bumping into his hand and purring softly. Her fur was warm.

Lance smiled, but he was deep in thoughts, watching Shiro’s back.

And he still felt the presence of someone else around them; it didn’t feel evil like the demons they had met so far, so it had to be Keith’s mother.

Lance was just wondering why she didn’t show herself to him.

Well…it maybe only was a matter of time now.

He should just be patient.

 

“Lance.”

Startled, Lance looked up from where he was staring into the flames, to see Shiro sitting down next to him. “Oh…hey Shiro.” He smiled a little, pulling his cloak tighter around himself.

It was cold, and they had just settled down for the evening again. Keith had disappeared, leaving Red with Lance, and he also couldn’t feel the presence of his mother anymore, so she must be gone too.

He was alone with Shiro.

“So…I’ve been meaning to talk to you for a little bit.”

Lance swallowed. “I’m not that interesting to talk to, actually, but…what did you want to know?”

Shiro chuckled. “Oh, I doubt that – you have quite some interesting abilities if you had been able to bring me back from the brink of death.” He paused. “I can’t thank you enough for this, by the way.”

“Don’t thank me.” He looked away.

“It’s…I don’t know, I just couldn’t stand him being so devastated over hurting you. I barely knew…know you but I knew I had to do it. And I know how little control a witch has over her powers once they break out of you…so…I just…yeah.” He sighed, staring at his hands, at the gnarly tissue that almost completely covered the faint self-harm scars on his underarms.

Silence for a few moments. “You’ve just met him when you decided to save me, right?”

Lance nodded hesitantly.

“Then he must have made quite a strong impression on you.”

He blushed, hiding his face in his hands. “Are you here to interrogate me about Keith?”

Shiro laughed, before stopping and thinking for a bit. “Actually…not completely. Yes, I want to know more about how you and Keith met, and…I mean, you saved me? That’s a pretty big deal.”

“You…I haven’t been able to save your arm, though”, Lance whispered, slowly letting his hands sink down again to look at Shiro with tired eyes. “I…I’m sorry for that, I’ve…I didn’t want anyone to catch me…I had to get away.” He shivered a little.

Shiro looked at him in surprise, tilting his head a little. “Lance, I…if you haven’t been there, I would have died. That’s a prize I’m willing to pay.” He stopped briefly. “Besides, Krolia already offered to…make me a new one.”

“Krolia?”

“Yes, Keith’s mother.”

Lance stopped, frowning. So Shiro had also already met Keith’s mother…did he have to feel left out now?

“Uh, anyways…what I wanted to ask you…” Hesitantly, Shiro reached out with his hand, gently laying it over Lance’s own.

He flinched a bit at the contact.

“You got into a similar situation like me, right?”, Shiro whispered.

Lance swallowed, before watching both their hands for a bit.

The scar tissue was indeed quite similar…

He sighed while nodding, not daring to look at Shiro. “Keith’s demon side took over him only briefly after we arrived at All- the property of the witch who agreed to train me. I tried to bring him back, I went after him to try and…but…he was too far gone and then suddenly everything around me was fire…” He shook himself briefly to get rid of the horrifying memory.

A quick glance towards Shiro showed him how his face softened in sympathy.

Scar buddies. Amazing.

The thought brought a little smile to his face.

“Anyways, I…I’ve been in training for my powers, I’ve worked hard to get better, and when I met Keith again, I forgave him.”

He paused. “I’ve actually forgiven him a lot earlier for what he did to me…did to my body I mean – but not for the fact that he-“ _Left me alone._

He didn’t say that part out loud.

But Shiro just nodded slowly while watching him, shifting in his position. He was quiet for a few moments. “You really like him, don’t you?”

“…yes.”

A smile before his face became serious again. “Okay. And as his big brother I only say this once: I hope you don’t hurt him. Because he’s far stronger than me right now and I can’t do much to protect him anymore. But I will do what is possible for me.”

Lance looked at him with wide eyes, before snorting a little bit, a smile on his face. “Alright. And I promise I will never hurt his feelings out of spite…or do it intentionally.”

“I hope so.”

Shiro sighed a little before patting his shoulder. “But I think you’re a nice guy. So I…just wanted to give you a heads up about that.”

Lance nodded, smiling hesitantly.

They continued to talk about the lives they both had left behind, getting to know each other more and Lance realized what a lucky guy Keith was.

Shiro must have been an amazing brother.

 

It was evening now.

Keith still wasn’t here.

Shiro was already sleeping and Lance had to stop himself from looking into the forest every two seconds because it wouldn’t make Keith come back faster if he just looked for him more often…right?

He sighed while slowly scratching Red’s head. “I’m worried. Where is he? I thought he would be back by now…What is he even doing out there for this long.”

The lioness purred from his caresses, leaning into his touch. Her fur emitted comforting, flickering warmth, pairing together with Blue’s soothing touches on his mind as she leaned against his legs.

She told him not to worry. It’d be alright.

“Yeah, but…”

His thoughts got interrupted as he heard movement rustling in the bushes.

Quickly jumping up, he called. “Keith??”

No answer, but a few seconds later, someone else entered the clearing.

A demon.

Lance’s eyes widened, and he stretched out his hand, about to summon one of his ice daggers.

Shiro was sleeping like a dead man after all…and Lance was here to protect him.

But that demon wasn’t…evil.

If Lance concentrated for a bit, he knew their presence.

They wouldn’t harm him.

He had felt their presence walking with them since they left Allura’s property, so it must be-

“Keith!”, he exclaimed again as he saw what – or who – the strange demon warrior was supporting at her side, almost carrying.

He ran over to them, his hands throwing away the daggers and already glowing with healing magic as they carefully cupped Keith’s face. “Keith, babe, can you hear me?”

He was barely conscious, leaning into the demoness’ side while groaning softly in pain. Dirt and scratches and blood were all over his face, his clothes torn, another huge gash at his side which was bleeding profusely. His hands looked severely burnt.

Damn…what happened??

“We found another patrol. Keith…He took a few hits too much”, the demoness told Lance in a deep voice as she carefully handed him over. “I trust you and your magic.”

Lance looked at her, a bit wary before he nodded slowly. “You’re Keith’s mother, right?”

She nodded, seemingly not even realizing the several gashes and burns that decorated her own skin. “That is right.” She bowed her head a little. “I’m Krolia. I will talk with you later on, but for now…” Her look moved to land on Keith’s face again and her hard expression softened a bit. “Please make sure he’s okay again.”

He took a quick look at her injuries. “I think you too could use some help…”

Her mouth pressed into a thin line, her eyes hard like glowing amethysts. “I’m alright. Keith is the one you need to worry about.”

Lance lifted an eyebrow before sighing. “Alright, okay.”

Carefully leading Keith back to the fireplace before setting him down next to Red, he looked at the lioness, trusting her to take care of Keith’s exhausted powers. A smile appeared on his lips at the way she softly caressed Keith’s head with her snout.

_Cute._

He sighed while sitting down next to him, flinching in sympathy at how he whimpered quietly with every movement.

“Why are you doing this all the time, Keith”, he whispered before starting to carefully free Keith from his ruined shirt. “There are only so much injuries I can heal before my powers are exhausted too…”

Hands with glowing veins softly started to caress milky, scarred and damaged skin as the fabric finally was out of the way. With a deep breath, Lance pulled up the icy power from his belly, watching it manifest on his hands as it created a thin film of blue glowing magical essence on Keith’s side.

“You know I love you, you idiot”, he continued whispering. “But if you die under my watch…I swear I will follow you into the underworld to drag you back to life again.” He leaned forward to press a soft kiss against Keith’s lips. “And I will scream at you until you become deaf. I won’t forgive you if you leave me a second time.”

With calculated movements of his hands, Lance spread his healing magic all over Keith’s upper body, stitching sliced up tissue together and hoping Keith was too out of it to feel the pain this caused.

Only when his upper body looked okay again, Lance turned to look at his hands.

For a few seconds, he just looked at the burns before flinching as Krolia started to speak. She had come closer again, now sitting down next to the two witches in a respectable distance.

“The patrol we fought against wasn’t like the other’s before.” She sighed. “There was another magically gifted demon, and he…his fire _burned_ Keith. Burned his hands the moment the flames touched his skin.” She looked away before linking eyes with Lance again and he almost thought he saw something like anguish in them. “I’ve never heard Keith scream like that before.”

It was difficult for him to look at her because she looked almost exactly like the creatures they had been fighting against during the last days.

Almost.

She didn’t look like a mindless beast, she looked more…human. More…approachable.

And she was Keith’s mother, damnit. The mother of the boy he loved more than himself. He should get himself together.

“I will…see what I can do”, he whispered, his voice cracking a bit before he gingerly took Keith’s hands into his own.

He flinched back as he felt the dark remains of foreign demon magic mixing with Keith’s own, gritting his teeth before forcing his magic deeper and trying to erase it. Trying to erase the traces of magic that continued to destroy Keith’s flesh.

Now he knew why Allura had been so keen on removing every last bit of Keith’s demon magic from his body.

Pictures flashed before his closed eyes…pictures of bones burned to ash, blistering, burning flesh, angry red before turning black – and over it all, there was this twisted feeling of evil, trying to rob him of his powers, trying to force him to stop.

But Lance didn’t. He continued to fight.

He felt his magic waver as the minutes dripped by, and slowly, slowly, the evil demon magic finally disappeared from Keith’s bones and his healing magic was able to repair the damaged tissue.

Lance let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding as he finally let go of Keith’s hands, the glowing of his hands and eyes slowly subsiding.

Keith’s face was calm now, he leaned against Red’s huge body and seemed to be sleeping. Just to be sure, Lance placed a hand on his chest, closing his eyes to search for anything dark or anything that wasn’t right in his body.

But there was nothing. Just Keith’s own magic.

With a relieved sigh, Lance looked at Krolia again.

“He is okay again. But he will need rest.”

The demoness smiled. “Thank you. I was…worried for him and it made it worse that I couldn’t do much to help him…but you can. Thank you for that.”

Lance nodded with a smile before standing up.

And almost falling back down again because of the sudden burst of dizziness clouding his vision. He groaned softly, holding his head.

Why didn’t he realize earlier how thirsty he was…?

“Are you alright?” Krolia stood up too, looking at him with a frown.

“Yeah, I just…did you see some kind of stream or water body around here somewhere?”

She hesitated. “I saw something but it’s not very near here…it was a waterfall and a see.”

Lance nodded, wanting to disappear already but feeling the need to explain himself a bit. It felt…kind of rude to just go without telling Krolia what was happening to him.

“Healing exhausts me pretty quickly…especially when it’s wounds inflicted by demon magic. I need to recharge myself.”

“Will you be alright on your own?”

“Yes.” Taking a look at Blue, he slowly took off his cloak and spread it over Keith like a blanket before walking away into the direction Krolia was showing him.

“I’ll be back in about two hours.”

 

Keith was awake by the time he came back, quietly talking with Shiro and Krolia. But he interrupted himself mid-sentence as his eyes locked with Lance and he jumped up, quickly walking over to him and throwing his arms around him.

Lance stumbled, hugging Keith back with a chuckle. “Welcome back from the dead, you idiot.”

Keith didn’t reply but kissed him instead, causing both their magic to roar up again and meet in a ice-cold burning storm that had them both shivering.

His hands were in Lances hair, his tongue caressing Lance’s own and Lance wanted to lose himself in the sensation of warmth, of fire, of _Keith, Keith, Keith-_

“Ahem.” A deep voice interrupted their make-out session.

Face red, Lance drew back, looking at Keith with a warm smile on his face. “Hey babe.”

A familiar hand carefully caressed his face. “From what Mum told me…you’ve once again brought me back from the brink of death”, he whispered. His eyes were shining slightly.

Lance nodded. “I did. It…” Gently, he took Keith’s hand away from his cheek and kissed it softly. “It was exhausting – as always when you get hurt this badly-“ a pointed glare from ocean blue eyes “-but I got to recharge again so it’s okay. But you need to stop putting yourself in such immediate danger, my friend.”

Keith’s eyes hardened before he looked away. “What other choice do I have, Lance? The demon we fought against was powerful. _Very_ powerful. I couldn’t let them come near you or Shiro…besides…I don’t care much for my own life. If it means that you can be safe.”

Lance gripped his hand tighter. “Don’t say things like that, Keith. You always have a choice.” He didn’t say more because he knew it would be useless.

The two of them went back to the fire, Krolia and Shiro smiling up at them. When looking at Krolia, Keith blushed for some reason Lance didn’t know and looked away.

She grinned a little at his reaction.

 

Lance didn’t quite know why…but Hunk came to his mind again as he sat down next to Shiro, gently cradling Blue in his lap and playing with her fur absentmindedly.

It had been more than fifteen months since they last saw each other…and somehow…despite his betrayal…Lance missed him.

His reaction had scarred him, but…

Could you blame him? They both had been best friends before Lance had become a witch, went through thick and thin. Hunk had been with him at every important point of his seventeen-year-long life.

And now…

Keith had both his step-brother and his mother back…but Lance?

Lance was alone.

Blue meowed quietly at that statement, stating that he never was alone. She would always be by his side.

“I know, girl”, he whispered, scratching her back softly. “I know.”

Still…he wished he could talk to Hunk again.

See him again.

If only for one last time.


End file.
